


Life Is A Circus

by x_GlitterGun_x (SmokySky)



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, F/M, M/M, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmokySky/pseuds/x_GlitterGun_x
Summary: Sometimes it’s hard being the only omega in a family of alphas: that's something Dick Grayson knows all too well. But maybe not all families are the same as the one he grew up in...
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Original Female Character(s), Jason Todd/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 92





	1. First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, with me and the rest of the world staying indoors as much as possible, it appears I have plenty of time to write something...and this is that something, a series of moments between Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, and an OC. I've been thinking about writing these scenes for a while, figured nobody would be interested and decided not to, but now I'm indoors and out of work for the foreseeable future, and so here this is. Tags will be updated as I go.
> 
> These oneshots are all set in the same timeline, and are in chronological order, but you probably don't have to read all of them. I've tried to name them as plainly as possible, so...if you're here, and you feel like reading this, check out the chapter titles to see what's looks interesting, I guess.
> 
> Please remember to leave kudos and comment if you like the chapters, and I hope you enjoy the story.
> 
> **Dick's first meeting with Jason and his supervillain girlfriend. It goes a lot better than expected.**

Dick sat huddled in the rafters of one of the many ‘abandoned’ _(meaning: used primarily for criminal activity)_ warehouses in Gotham’s docking sector, waiting for his targets to appear. Stephanie and Tim were bickering back and forth on his coms - Bruce having all but given up on the ‘no chat’ rule while they were laying in wait, even if he still demanded on it when in the midst of a fight. He was, as normal, silent on his end, and though usually Dick would’ve been trying to draw him into conversation, if only for the entertainment value, tonight he wasn’t feeling very talkative. Damian had rolled his eyes at Dick’s discomfort over the mission, but despite what he had said, Dick wasn’t sulking. He just didn’t want to be a part of this fight - because it was going to be unpleasant.

Black Mask was back in Gotham, and he was out for blood. Specifically, the blood of the man who had gotten him locked up in Blackgate.

Red Hood.

Jason Todd.

Of course, Jason had no interest in letting Black Mask just take his pound of flesh. Anyone with even one brain cell could’ve worked that out: meaning Black Mask hadn’t even tried to get back into Gotham without the allies he needed to take on Red Hood. And they weren’t just any allies: of course not, they were all people Red Hood had managed to piss off in the year since he’d returned to Gotham. Penguin, Falcone, and - as if those three weren’t bad enough - the Joker.

The four of them working together was a ticking time bomb. But the four of them working together to go after Jason? There was going to be blood, and Dick couldn’t be certain that that blood wasn’t going to be Jason’s. As ready as the rest of the family had been to give up on him, Dick wasn’t, and never would be, at that point. Bruce could shake his head, and Tim could shake his head, and Damian could blame Dick’s ‘pathetically sympathetic omega sensibilities’, but none of that changed anything. Dick didn’t want to watch Jason get hurt. But when he’d forced Bruce to at least reach out to Jason, to warn him and ask him if he would help bring the four crooks to justice, Jason had just laughed.

_The four of them? You’d drag all five of us to Arkham, and you know I know it._

The response was harsh...but fair. Jason hadn’t pissed off four of the most dangerous men in Gotham by being a saint. He was still running the drug trade: and he was slowly but surely chasing the dregs out of Crime Alley: a territory he controlled so tightly even the Bat pack didn’t dare to tread there without very good reason these days. Not that there was much reason anymore; the people living there might be poor, but the more violent criminals were long gone. Thanks to Jason.

But even if Dick still saw the spark in Jason that had made Jason a Robin, the others didn’t see it, or didn’t think it was enough to give Jason a second chance at rejoining the family, and so now here Dick sat: waiting to swoop in to ambush Black Mask and his goons when they tried to ambush Jason, who was on his way to supposedly meet one of his lieutenants. A man Dick had already sent Damian to watch over while the doctor tried to save his life after Black Mask’s beating.

**_“I’ve picked Hood up on the cameras.”_ ** Babs interrupted Tim and Steph: **_“Looks like he’s going to be right on time.”_ **

**_“Everyone focus.”_ ** Bruce acknowledged, his tone brooking no argument.

Not that Dick was paying attention to Bruce’s tone.

On the other side of the rafters, the shadows had...changed. Thickened, becoming impenetrable. He was just about to mention it so he could go and check it out, when a figure stepped out of the darkest heart of the shadows and onto the rafter.

_Void._

_Shit._

She caught sight of Dick before he could so much as open his mouth to tell the others they had unexpected company, the black lenses in her purple mask narrowing as they focused on his face. The fact that she held a purple gloved finger up to black lips wouldn’t normally have an effect on Dick...but in this situation, it did. He hadn’t wanted to be a part of this mission mostly because he didn’t want to see Jason dragged off to Arkham at the end of it. And Jason’s best bet to ensure that didn’t happen?

Void.

No-one was sure when the two of them had started their relationship. Void had appeared in Gotham eighteen months ago, and when Jason returned six months after that, he’d spent a month trying to get his revenge on Bruce and the Joker, before people caught him and Void running around rooftops as if they had always done that kind of thing. They had replaced the Joker and Harley as the power couple of Gotham’s criminal underworld months before Harley had left the Joker, and now it was an unspoken rule that if you tried to target one: you had better watch your back against the other. An unspoken rule that, apparently, Black Mask hadn’t heard while he was out of Gotham.

An oversight that could very well mean the difference between Jason’s capture and escape.

So even though she was a criminal known for her particularly violent execution-style killings, Dick hesitated in making the others aware of her presence. He knew that he shouldn't, but she could get Jason out before he even stepped foot inside the warehouse: her ability to form portals out of thin air to just about anywhere she wanted, giving her the perfect escape route no matter what the situation was. The only problem would be convincing her to do so...but before Dick could even think about how he would go about that, the door to the warehouse opened, and the Red Hood strode in, in full gear.

_Double shit._

Dick informed the others that Jason had entered the building - _conveniently forgetting all about Void, who was watching him with unhidden interest from a few rafters away_ \- while he got ready to swoop in to intervene between Jason and Black Mask if he had to.

“Hank?”

Black Mask stepped out of the shadows, smirking as he shook his head: “I’m afraid not. But it’s okay, you can meet up with your buddy soon enough.”

“You again?” Hood sighed, rolling his eyes so hard Dick could hear it - as he was guessing he was supposed to: “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? You’re old news, Sionis. Time to get out of the game.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll put a bullet hole in that mask.”

Black Mask should’ve been scared. He was an intelligent man, despite his criminal leanings.

But apparently his pride was bigger than his intellect, and instead of backing down like he probably should have, instead he raised his finger to point at Jason, the obvious sign for his men to shoot. And thought they shot, no bullets ever reached Jason. They never even got close.

A portal opened in front of him, and the bullets went right through it while Jason laughed. Black Mask swore, gesturing for his men to try and flank Jason, but then the portal was gone and so was Jason.

**_“Nightwing - what’s happening?”_ ** Bruce demanded.

**_“Hood’s brought Void with him. Black Mask ordered his men to fire and she portalled Hood...I can’t see where.”_ ** Dick described the last thirty seconds, right before Black Mask roared for them to turn the flood lights on: **_“And I’m about to be spotted.”_ **

****

**_“Get out of there. Now.”_ **

Dick had every intention of listening to Bruce, but whoever had been tasked with turning the lights on was fast, and it seemed all of Black Mask’s men knew about Hood’s penchant for high places. They spotted Dick in a heartbeat, and even if he wasn’t the target they had been expecting, they had no problem shooting at him instead. He backflipped out of the way of the first barrage, and dropped onto the walkway underneath him to avoid the second, but he was rapidly running out of places to dodge.

“Oh, and here I thought I was special.” sneered a voice Dick didn’t think he’d ever been more relieved to hear: “Romie, baby, you break my heart.”

Black Mask’s goons switched their focus to Jason, standing on another walkway at the other end of the warehouse, but before Dick could see what happened a portal opened in front of him and someone pushed him into it from behind.

He stumbled through the second-long pitch blackness before he managed to catch his bearings and found himself standing in the pitch blackness Void sometimes used to hold people she wanted out of the way. He tried his coms, not really surprised when they didn't work (because wherever this was, he was fairly certain it was nowhere the warehouse he had been in), before trying to get some kind of grasp on his bearings. He'd never been caught in the place before - Bruce had, and he said it had been like nothing he'd ever experience, which Dick was really starting to understand now. It wasn't like a dark room: it was...nothing. Endless, empty blackness. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to taste, feel, or smell. He couldn't even feel the solidity of anything beneath his feet, even though he didn't dare look down to see if there was anything under him.

He was guessing there wasn't.

Dick had never been afraid of flying - if anything, it had always made his heart soar - and with that came a complete lack of fear of heights. This wasn't like the feeling of being high above the streets of Gotham or Blüdhaven. This was nothing like that. This was...a terrifying, endless, pitch black emptiness. A void.

_I guess that's why she named herself the way she did._

Before Dick could go off on an internal monologue about villains never choosing imaginative names, there was suddenly a blinding light a few metres to his right. He blinked against the brightness, after the completed darkness, only to see the warehouse he'd just been in...and two figures stepping through the portal: "Hood - "

"You get shot, Dickiebird?"

Dick winced at the use of his given name...clearly Jason didn't keep any secrets from Void: "Not even grazed."

The alpha looked Dick up and down...but it didn't feel like when Bruce, Steph, or Damian did it. Didn't feel like them checking on the pack omega, who couldn't be trusted to know what was good for them...it felt like an assessment of a team-mate, the way the alphas in Dick's pack looked at each other: a quick check to make sure Dick's post-fight adrenaline hadn't hiden any injuries from him, before accepting his word as the truth.

"Good. Then what the fuck were you doing in that warehouse?" Jason snapped.

"We heard Mask was going to lure you to that warehouse tonight - "

Jason growled threateningly, stepping towards Dick: "And thought 'Oh, what a good chance to arrest them all', let's just swoop in!"

"Jay, chill." Void interrupted, her voice a lot smoother than usual, making Dick realise it was the first time he'd ever heard the female alpha speak without growling: "He could've told the Bats I was there, but he didn't."

Despite the aggressive body language he maintained, he did stop growling at Void's interjection, tilting his head in slight confusion - albeit probably a conscious decision to show Dick he was confused, since he still had his helmet on: "Why wouldn't you tell them I had brought back up?"

Dick shrugged, ducking his head in slight...embarrassment, he guessed: "I was hoping she would get you out before anyone got hurt."

Even with the helmet in place, Dick could sense Jason softening slightly.

It was just a tiny bit - Jason was hard by nature, and he didn't have a lot of sympathy for what he saw as stupid decisions or people trying to interfere with his plans, but he'd never had as much animosity for Dick as he had for Bruce and Tim, even when he first returned to Gotham. He was probably still pissed, but he didn't look ready to punch Dick anymore, and that was a step in the right direction.

After all, this was a perfect time to try and convince Jason to come back.

He so rarely got a chance to speak to Jason up close - the alpha took off whenever he saw or scented Dick, and Void wasn't much better - so there was no way he was going to pass up on this opportunity to talk to him while he was actually close enough to be heard without shouting. Void or no void, there was no reason not to take advantage of the situation.

"Are you hurt?"

Jason seemed thrown off by the question, but recovered quick enough: "Yeah. Void worries almost as much as you do."

Void sighed: "You say that like me wanting you not to get shot is unreasonable."

Dick grinned at the long suffering tone: "Has he kicked up a fuss about when you try and stitch him up yet."

"Oh my God, yes." Void asked, sounding so relieved to have someone agreeing with her about Jason's unreasonableness: "I swear, he spends more time arguing with me about letting me stitch him up than it would take me to just knock him out and do it."

"You would know." Jason grumbled at Void: "That's exactly what you did last month."

Void was utterly unrepentant as she smirked playfully at Jason: "And it was quicker than arguing with you about it."

Dick grinned, even though Jason was rolling his eyes. He may still be wearing his Red Hood gear, but the body language was more like Robin's than Dick had seen in a long time. A little more guarded than when he was younger, but a lot more relaxed than he'd ever been since he returned to Gotham. Hell, if Dick ignored the leather jacket and the guns, he could almost imagine Jason was fourteen again, and the last few years had never happened.

It was a nice fantasy. But it couldn't last; though Jason was softer when he was bickering with Void, it was clear he still had no love for any of the Bat pack, Dick included, and when he turned to see Dick watching him and Void interact, he went back to being Red Hood in the blink of an eye. Dick was a little bit surprised he didn't threaten to hit him.

He had before - and gone through with it. Tim had worn the bruise on his cheek for two weeks for looking at Void funny...and questioning what kind of alpha she was. Secretly, Dick didn't exactly blame Jason, even if he wouldn't have reacted in the same way, but Jason had a very simple mantra when it came to his pack: chat shit, get hit. Tim's implication about Void's character had been unpleasant and unwarranted: so, no, Jason didn't judge Jason for punching him in the face, even if he probably should. But then there was a lot of things he should do when it came to Jason, very little of which he actually did.

Not that anyone but Dick had to know that.

"Okay, Dickiebird, time to get you out of here. Anywhere in particular you wanna go?"

"Is Hawaii an option?" Dick asked wryly: "I feel like I could do with a holiday."

Void smirked, waving a hand dramatically through the air to open a portal that led out on a starlight beach, the moonlight shining off the waved: "Too easy, bird boy."

Dick was tempted - _sorely_ tempted - but after a few seconds he shook his head: "I really don't think either of you want to deal with Batman coming after you when the last he saw of me was going through one of your portals."

Jason snorted: "Do you really need us to dignify that with a response?"

Dick really didn't.

Still, with another dramatic wave of her hand - _albeit with a slightly disappointed expression_ \- Void opened up another portal...this one looking out over where Bruce, Steph, and Tim were huddled on the roof of the warehouse Dick had been in, watching the cops and paramedics take away Black Mask's men _(Dick hoped it was to the hospital and police station and not the morgue)_ and talking about how to get Dick back. Tim was sounding a little panicky, which made Dick glad he'd turned down Hawaii, but he was glad to see Bruce and Steph were still calm.

After all, he'd only been missing for fifteen minutes. Dick might be an omega, but he was still a goddamn superhero: he didn't need his pack treating him as if he was any more vulnerable than the rest of them. They wouldn't be panicking if Tim had been missing for fifteen minutes, they shouldn't panic for him...at least not until he showed up with Red Hood and Void just behind him.

Bruce growled as soon as Jason put one foot on the ground outside the portal: "Jason - "

"Not interested, old man. Just making sure Dickface over here didn't get dizzy after the portalling."

Void nodded sagely: "Some people don't react to it all that well. But Nightwing here seems to be handling it pretty well...much better than you did, anyway."

Bruce growled again, but Dick just rolled his eyes at Void: "Was that really necessary?"

"No, but I don't regret it." Void shrugged.

"Of course you don't." Tim muttered, making Jason turn to look at him:

"What was that, replacement? Casting aspersions again?"

Tim snarled, but Steph and Dick stepped between the two of them before anything could happen.

Again.

Fortunately, Jason seemed to be relaxed enough that he didn't follow up on his implied threat. That, or he didn't want to fight the four of them - it hadn't stopped him before, but maybe Void was the good influence some of Dick's sources had theorised she was. A little bit, anyway.

If anything, she was clearly trying to bring their impromptu meeting to a bloodshed-free ending: "Well, it was nice meeting you in person, Nightwing. I have to say, your arse is as just as nice as everyone says it is."

"Thanks," Dick grinned: "I've been working on it. I know the supervillain community would kick my arse so much harder if they weren't so busy looking at it."

Jason was rolling his eyes again, Dick could tell: "That is not a solid plan, Dickiebird. Not at all."

"Well, it's working for me so far." Dick grinned, ignoring Tim's incredulous gawking and Bruce's disapproving glare: "But if it doesn't work out...maybe I could take you up on that trip to Hawaii?"

"For you, Nightwing? Any time." Void smirked: "I might join you for cocktails and bitching about certain people's inability to accept help."

"Okay, thank you, enough of this." Jason casually wrapped and arm around Void's shoulder, his hand resting over her mouth: "We're leaving. Stay safe Nightwing and Batgirl, watch your back Replacement, and fuck you Batman."

And then they were gone.

Leaving Dick alone with a confused _(and probably very disapproving)_ Tim, Steph, and Bruce. All of whom were just waiting for Dick to turn to face them so they could start grilling him on what the hell had just happened.

So Dick didn't turn round, not even when he called out his goodbye as he swung away:

"Bye guys! See you at the Manor for dinner next week!"


	2. Accidental Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Dick sees Scarecrow summon Red Hood and Void to fight him, and decides to give the pair a hand. It just probably wasn't the best time to do that.**

The next time Dick saw Jason and Void, he was benched: stuck in the apartment due to his oncoming heat, and they were on the news. Thankfully not for anything too extreme...

...Just fighting Scarecrow.

Nothing too dangerous.

Dick didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Or, he did, but he didn't think that crying was going to do much good. Scarecrow had lured Red Hood and Void into a locked-down subway station full of civilians...and not just any civilians. Children. Dick was pretty sure it was the only reason Jason had listened to the call; the station was in a nicer part of Gotham, hence it's tougher security protocols - normally Jason would sneer that the better-off adult Gothamites had made their bed, and they could lie in it? But kids? Jason wouldn't leave kids to suffer in any circumstances: hence why he and Void were both in their street clothes when they stepped through the portal Void had created. Because neither alpha would ever leave innocent kids to Scarecrow's threats to fill the whole subway station with fear gas.

Because they were good alphas. Alphas that hadn't wasted any time in getting to the subway station - Void wasn't even in her costume: she was still in street clothes, black yoga pants and a white sports bra under what looked like Jason's brown leather jacket. The only way Dick even recognised her, other than the fact that she had stepped out of one of her own portals, was because of her distinctive purple mask. That and the way that Jason, who looked seriously under-protected without his jacket, even with the guns in shoulder, hip, and thigh holsters, plus all the knives Dick knew he had, had placed himself slightly in front of her.

_Such a strong, protective alpha..._

Dick rolled his eyes at his hind-brain acting up, a little louder than usual thanks to the fact he'd taken the last of this cycle's suppression tablets yesterday morning, and focused on Red Hood _(at least he had had time to put his helmet on, even if he was missing his usual body armour)_ and Void start to approach Scarecrow. At least their approach was careful, which put Dick's mind a little at ease considering the dangerous situation Jason had put himself in - and without armour!

Without. Armour.

It was a terrible situation to be in, for any of them - even Bruce, who probably had the most training of them all - at least Jason and Void could do was be cautious. Dick was happy to see that Jason had learned some self-preservation instincts since he'd first fought him and Bruce when he returned to Gotham.

But then, Jason started talking. And the illusion of self-preservation was _shattered_.

“Seriously? Do you not know we work nights?” Jason wasted no time in mocking Scarecrow, even as he started to circle the super villain: “Pulling this shit at eight in the morning. Give a couple a chance to catch a little rest.”

“So inconsiderate.” Void agreed, circling in the opposite direction.

Neither anti-hero was being subtle, but they didn’t have to be, even though Crane knew he was being outflanked, his back was against the wall at the end of the subway station and he had nowhere to go: “Why not take every advantage I can get?”

“Professional pride?”

"Your own dislike of mornings?"

“In return for us not shooting you in the head because we’re grumpy?”

“Solidarity for your fellow villains?”

“A little goddamn sympathy for the night shift?”

"I’m impressed both of you are so quick so early in the morning. And, of course, a little disappointed." Scarecrow just laughed at the couple of vigilantes chirping responses at him, arming a fear gas canister that he had just pulled from his sleeve: “I had hoped you would come quietly.”

Jason snorted: “Not a chance.”

That was all it took. The 'fun' was over: Jason pulled a gun from one of his thigh holsters, and emptied it in Scarecrow's direction before Scarecrow could tell him to rethink shooting at an armed gas bomb.

Dick was thankful Jason was such a good marksman. None of the bullets hit the canister or Scarecrow, but they did make the villain drop the canister into a portal that had conveniently opened up right under the hand that had been holding it. Another portal opened, and Void gestured for the civilians in the station to go through it - while Jason held off Scarecrow, who was suddenly furious that his hostages were being rescued. And it was a rescue: Jason working harder to keep Scarecrow from setting off any more gas bombs than he was to trying to subdue him: keeping him away from Void, who was shepherding what looked like a full school trip's worth of kids through a portal away from the fighting. Dick was watching the evacuation with sharp eyes, not that he was close enough to actually do anything, when he finally got a good look at the uniform the kids were wearing. A uniform he knew all too well.

After all, it was the one he used to wear every day he went to school.

And it seemed Scarecrow wasn’t done trying to use those kids - those _omega_ kids - as leverage. He threw another gas canister towards the portal - and this one Void couldn’t portal away. The portal she was holding open as an escape route seemed to be stretching the limits of her abilities, and though she managed to smack the canister out of the air before it could follow the civilians through the portal, she couldn’t stop it exploding into an ugly yellow-green cloud, cutting off the remaining two dozen civilians from their escape...and spreading towards them.

_Shit...no, not on his watch._

Dick might be benched, but as far as he knew he was the only one seeing this, and his apartment was the closest to where the incident was unfolding. Even if he wasn’t, he was the only openly omega superhero. If he couldn’t save those kids, from a school that was famous for being the first in America to exclusively educate omegas, then who could? He was meant to be a goddamn role model! An omega superhero that omegas could depend upon as one of their own. Benched or not: Dick was going out to help those kids.

His heat would just have to be put off: he’d taken the last of this cycle’s suppressants just yesterday morning, he should be fine. He'd have to be.

He was in costume and leaving through the secret tunnels under his apartment building less than ten minutes later. It probably wasn't wise...but Dick was in costume and heading towards the subway station. Thankfully Gotham never changed much; the tunnels Dick remembered Bruce utilising when he was first Robin were still in the same grimy but fully usable state that he remembered, and he made it an access to the subway tunnel that would allow him to sneak up on Scarecrow from behind.

At least, that was the plan. As soon as Dick was through the access hatch, he could hear the chaos from a few dozen feet away...and heard something in his hind brain whimper.

Not ideal. But it was too late to turn back now.

More cautiously than he normally did, Dick approached the sound of the fighting. He was close enough that he could see what was going on - Jason tackling Scarecrow to the floor while Void was opening smaller portals to get the last of the civilians to freedom. Both of them had pulled respirators from somewhere, but they only had two between the pair of them, and it was clear that some of the civilians - _all adults by now, thank God_ \- were being affected by the fear gas. They had no interest in going through the portals Void was creating; all they wanted to do was lash out at the nearest living object: whether that was each other, or in the case of the beta in a tailored suit swinging a heavy leather briefcase through the air, Void.

Void ducked the briefcase, growling so loudly Dick could hear her from the other end of the station platform, and reaching into Jason's jacket. Dick didn't think - _because whatever was in Jason's pockets, it wasn't going to end well for the suited beta_ \- he lunged forwards for the beta. He kicked the male in the ribs when he reached for Void again, knocking him to the floor before he was grabbed by the back of his costume and lifted off of the man before he fell through the portal that opened under him.

"Thanks for the assist, Nightwing."

_Alpha pleased._

Dick shook off the voice purring at the back of his head to focus on giving Void his usual care-free smile: "Fancy not using lethal force to make it up to me?"

"You'll have to save my arse a few more times for that, I'm afraid." Void smirked.

But when another female alpha ran at them, eyes wild, Void didn't reach into the jacket for a weapon. And Dick knew that was a conscious decision on her part, to knock the woman out with a punch and let her fall through the portal away from the situation before she woke up.

He appreciated it, the same way he always appreciated the lack of killings attributed to Red Hood and Void when they were working with him. They knew he didn't kill, and it was nice of them to stick to his rules when they worked with him, especially since they didn't do that for everyone. Or, in fact, anyone. Maybe because Dick was the only one who didn't try an actively arrest or kill them every time he saw them.

The perks of not being an arsehole.

Still, Dick focused on helping Void get the civilians out while Jason was trading blows with Scarecrow: drawing them into portals easily enough by getting them to chase him and leaping over or sliding under the suddenly-appearing portals at the last second. Even hyped up and aggressive from the fear gas, none of them were threats to Dick. It was a faultless plan...at least until they got to the last two civilians in the station. Two big, burly alphas who seemed to have taken a little too much interest in Dick...specifically the way he smelled, if their flared nostrils were flared. And suddenly Dick was feeling more than a little bit self-conscious about how close he was to starting his heat.

Also not exactly ideal. Dick braced himself for them to pounce on him, but the never got a chance. Void stepped in front of them and snarled, glaring them in the eye in a clear challenge to their alpha-ness. If they were in their right minds, it probably wouldn't have done all that much, but when on fear gas? The effect was instantaneous. They rushed her, growling and yelling wordlessly, arms outstretched...and as good as Void was, she was tired and outnumbered. She floored the first alpha, kicking him in the balls and sending him whimpering to his knees, cupping himself as he fell, but the second alpha didn't let his buddy's pain slow him down. He grabbed Aurora around the throat: picking her up off of her feet and shaking her like a rag doll. Dick was frozen in instinctive fear, before the choked noise that escaped Aurora's throat was enough to spur him into action. He threw himself at the alpha: swinging is escrima stick and activating the taster function, shocking the alpha into letting Aurora go.

He and his alpha buddy fell through portals that Void opened up from under them. Aurora turned her head from side to side, clearly trying to get rid of the choked feeling that always followed having someone grabbing you by the throat. Dick thought about reaching out to her, his hind-brain wanting to soothe the uncomfortable alpha, but by the time he managed to get his arms to obey his brain, Aurora had turned back to the reason they were all here.

By now there was just Scarecrow left to deal with.

Unfortunately, he was still fighting back. It was one thing Dick had always hated about Crane once he put on the mask - pain never seemed to have an effect on him. He just kept going until he was knocked out or locked up. No matter how many times Jason knocked him down, Scarecrow just kept getting up again and again and again. And he kept trying to lunge past Jason at Void and Dick _(why, now his hostages were gone, Dick couldn't say)_ no matter how many time Jason got in his way or hauled him back.

It meant they had to hurry up - it wasn't obvious to the untrained eye, but Jason was flagging. Just because Scarecrow didn't feel pain didn't mean Jason didn't, and it had been fifteen minutes since the two of them had been fighting. This had to end, and the sooner the better.

_Before my luck runs out._

"Still feeling up to slapping around sack face over there, Nightwing?" Void turned to Dick, her usual good humour missing from her voice.

Dick sighed, feeling just as tired as Void looked: "As much as I'll ever be."

"After this, I'm going to sleep for a fucking week."

"You and me both."

Void smirked half-heartedly: "I'd make a joke about sleeping together...but I just don't have the energy."

Dick empathised entirely.

But with no other option available _(other than running away, which wasn't really an option given Dick's conscience)_ , they both charged Scarecrow. The fight, mercifully, wasn't a long one. Despite not feeling the damage Jason had done, Scarecrow had taken a lot of hits.

His wrist was broken, he was limping, and he was noticeably slower than he usually was. It didn't take much time for Void to grab Scarecrow around the back of the neck in a chokehold, while Dick kicked the back of his knees. He went down, Void crouching behind him to maintain her chokehold. Scarecrow tried to reach back to dislodge her, only for Jason to reach out and snap his wrist before he could grab her. Dick cuffed the when Scarecrow yanked it backwards, away from Jason but right into Dick's grasp. Void braced herself, before flipping forwards until she - with her arms still wrapped tightly around Scarecrow's neck - was upside down, braced on Scarecrow's shoulder with one of Jason's hands on the small of the back so Dick could cuff both Scarecrow's hands behind his back before Void flipped back down.

Scarecrow didn't remain conscious long after that. They left him tied up to a pillar, Jason even adding a bow for the cops, before slipping into the shadows just as the lockdown precautions were lifted and the GCPD started entering the subway station.

Though normally Dick would hang around to oversee Scarecrow taken in, right now he just didn't have the energy. He was tired - it hadn't been a particularly difficult fight, but the adrenaline had burned through the last of the suppressants in his system, and now his body was getting ready to go into heat. His muscles were aching, his limbs felt heavy, and all he wanted to do was shut his eyes and get some rest. He was so tired he didn't even realise he was lagging behind until Jason and Void turned and pulled his arms over their shoulders so they could half-carry him down the tunnels.

"Any reason you smell like you're about to go into heat, Dickiebird?" Jason asked, voice tight with strain.

"No." Dick lied...before reluctantly admitting the truth before Jason dragged it out of him with endless questioning Dick was not feeling up to facing right now: "Only because I'm due to start my heat."

Void snarled: "How due?"

Despite himself, Dick whimpered at the sound of a displeased alpha: "Took my last of the suppressants yesterday."

"Ah, shit, Dick." Jason growled...but he was clearly being careful not to sound too pissed off. Dick appreciated that. He didn't know how much longer he could keep his slightly less evolved reactions under wraps: "A, can you open up a portal?"

"I'm out." Void - or A, apparently - responded, her tone truly regretful: "Getting the civilians out was pushing it. I'm not sure I could even get us into the void."

Jason snorted: "There's a joke to be made there somewhere...but for now, Dickiebird, how long before you pass out?"

Dick was weirdly touched Jason remembered Dick's heats aways started with him falling asleep for twelve hours, and that nothing short of the apocalypse would wake him - something he hadn't felt apologetic for in a while, but he did now: "Ten minutes? Not long enough to back into my apartment."

Jason and Void shared a look, before hurrying up a little. Dick knew he should try and be more helpful - that he shouldn't have let his heat get the better of him - but he was just so _tired_. It had been a mistake to come out to fight Scarecrow; Jason and Void had had it covered, now he was just making their getaway harder. They were all but carrying him now, hurrying down the tunnel until suddenly they...weren't.

Dick roused himself slightly to find himself leaning against Jason while Void picked the lock on a door. Maybe he was more out of it than he realised, but she seemed to get it done incredibly quickly, and then Jason was pushing Dick into the dark space behind the door.

It was cramped as anything; Dick found himself pressed up against Void, standing between her thighs where she had boosted herself up to sit on some waist-high surface, with Jason pressed up against his back. Under normal circumstances Dick would've been embarrassed, but today...he was a little too far gone to care. He was between two friendly _(friendly enough, at least)_ alphas, and he was more than ready to just pass out.

"You can sleep, Nightwing." Void offered, her voice noticeably rougher than it usually was: "I'll have enough energy to get us out of here in about half an hour. You'll wake up somewhere safe."

Jason slid a leg between Dick's, letting Dick take some of the weight off of his feet - especially when Void slid her arms under his underarms and lifted him another bit, making Dick smile as he slurred: "Don't even know your name."

"...It's Aurora." Void offered softly.

"Aurora...pretty name..." Dick smiled, before nuzzling his face against Aurora's chest: where the scent of a caring, safe alpha was strongest.

Jason rubbed a hand comfortingly up and down Dick's side, filling his head with the scent of another alpha, and flooding him with contentment. He felt safe and warm, between the two alphas allowing him to take the weight off of his feet so that he could sleep away the beginning of his heat. What more could an omega want?

"Sleep well, Dickiebird." the male alpha grumbled, the sound low and rumbling and sending Dick even further towards sleep: "You'll wake up safe, I promise."

"'Kay..." Dick purred, sinking deeper into the alphas' hold and deeper into sleep.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of one of them humming a lullaby under their breath.

It was perfect.


	3. Napping Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Dick wants answers from Aurora and Jason. This time when he finds them, it's definitely the right time.**

"Dick...the fuck are you doing here?"

Dick glared at the rumpled man standing opposite him, dressed in sweatpants and a torn black tank top...one that wasn't quite baggy enough to hide the gun he had tucked into the waistband of his sweatpants.

Jason clearly wasn't expecting him.

Still, Dick wasn't going to let up just because Jason seemed on the backfoot: "Are you going to let me in or not?"

Jason actually blushed faintly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck bashfully: "I...I don't know if now is a good time, Dickiebird."

That's exactly when Dick noticed the smell coming off of Jason. How he'd missed it, he didn't know, because Jason smelt _good_ : all warm and bittersweet like melted plain chocolate. He was in the middle of a rut. And given the spiced vanilla smell that overlayed his own, Dick was guessing Void - Aurora - was as well.

No wonder he had a line of bruises trailing up from under the neck of the tank top to the hinge of his jaw. Alphas in same secondary-sex relationships tended to go into rut together, and Dick had heard that the results could get...rough. Not that Dick was in any way interested in what happened between Jason and his girlfriend. They were a very happy, fully-committed couple in a solid relationship, any idiot could see that, so Dick wasn't interested in what happened between them when they were in rut together. Not even a little bit. Not at all.

It was just...Jason smelt really good. Aurora smelt equally as good. And Dick was still in heat.

Jason was right, it probably wasn't a good time for Dick to enter Jason's and Aurora's 'den'...but Dick was an adult, and he was in control of his hormones. He wasn't going to roll over and bare his throat to them just because they smelt good. He'd come over here for a reason, questions he needed answers for, and he wasn't going to leave until he was satisfied that he had the answers he had come for, no matter what stage they were all at their hormone cycles.

"I need to talk to you, and Aurora. Today." Dick demanded...although he knew Jason well enough to not force him into anything he didn't want to do: "Please, Jason."

Jason still looked undecided, but he reluctantly stepped back to allow Dick into the apartment: "'Kay, Dickiebird. C'mon in. You wanna drink?"

"Tea?"

"Sure: Rory gets the good stuff. Loose leaf."

Dick didn't complain when Jason took his time making tea for him - _although it didn't go unnoticed by Dick that he made it the exact same way Alfred did, even if he didn't comment on it_ \- or when he went around opening windows to 'get rid of that safe-house smell' that all their boltholes got, even though it seemed to Dick that that smell of musty, stale air was long gone. But if it made Jason more comfortable, then Dick was onboard...especially since it was helping him to think a little clearer without the smell of Jason and Aurora filling his head.

He needed all the help he could get: a minute later Aurora slipped out of the apartment's one bedroom, dressed in a crop top and boxer shorts, smiling sleepily at Dick before stretching up on her toes, powerful thighs flexing as she wrapped her arms around Jason's shoulders, pressing a kiss to the underside to the back of his neck. It was purely domestic, and utterly adorable. Dick didn't know Jason was capable of the unfiltered affection that was on his face when Aurora nuzzled him, but it made Dick...almost jealous. Because he didn't remember Jason ever looking that relaxed around him. Ever. Jason rumbled, the low sound typical of happy alphas, getting Aurora to rumble back at him before she grabbed two mugs of the tea Jason had just finished brewing and meandering over to where Dick was sitting on the bare living room floor.

He was surprised when she rubbed her cheek against his, briefly, after she handed him his mug of tea, but...Jason didn't seem in any way upset or disturbed by how affectionate she was being, so Dick just enjoyed the affection for what it was. An alpha meeting a familiar omega they were on friendly terms. Dick didn't know they were on friendly terms _(occasionally helping each other out with villains was not necessarily friendly)_ but he wasn't complaining.

She smelt good too.

Jason finally folded himself down onto the floor a few feet away from Dick: making puppy eyes at Aurora, then whining until she laughed and crawled - _and Dick_ carefully _avoided looking at her while she on all fours_ \- until she could curl herself between Jason's legs and lean back against his chest, both of them rumbling in contentment together. Something Dick was absolutely not jealous about.

Not at all.

"So, Dick, how can we help?"

Aurora still looked a little hazy - alpha's ruts had peaks and troughs just like omega's heats, so maybe she was a little behind Jason and still coming down from the latest peak - but pulled it together enough to look concerned: "Scarecrow didn't get away?"

Dick shook his head, still appreciative of the way Jason and Aurora treated him as a superhero first and an omega...something like sixth: "Back in Arkham, where he belongs. But I'm a little hazy on how I got back into my penthouse, where I belonged."

"Portal, babes." Aurora lazily waved a hand, opening a miniature portal and closing it again when her hand dropped back to rest on Jason's where they were clasped around her waist: "I was out after we'd put Scarecrow down - we'd just gotten in after a busy night, so I wasn't exactly full of energy when I started with that shithead - but after about an hour I had enough energy to open a portal into your penthouse, and another to get me and Jason here."

"We didn't trigger any alarms, I don't think." Jason mused: "M'sorry if we did. Never wanted to get you in trouble with big Bats."

"No alarms...although that, in itself, is worrying. Can you open a portal to anyone? No matter where they are?" Dick asked Aurora.

...He really wasn't sure what he would do if she said 'yes'.

Did Dick _want_ to trust Aurora? Yes. But did he think he actually _could_ trust her? No. She was loyal to Jason first and possibly Jason only: and at times that put her in direct opposition to Bruce and the other members of the Bat pack. Sure, Dick existed in a grey area to Jason, and therefore to Aurora too, but for Jason the rest of the Bat pack were black and white. People were with or against him: and more often than not the Bats were in the against category. If she could track any of them down, at will, wherever they were or what they were doing, then that...that could become a problem very, very fast.

If she had the ability, then he would have to tell Bruce. And then he'd have to tell Bruce everything else: the fact he knew Void's real name, the location of one of her safe houses, anything and everything he knew. And after that Bruce wouldn't rest until Void was no longer a threat to him and the pack.

No matter what it took.

Dick really didn't want to be the reason Aurora, a woman who had greeted him with open affection even though he was just Jason's estranged sort-of older brother, a member of the pack that had let him down when it counted, ended up run out of Gotham...or worse. And he didn't want to be responsible for what that would do to Jason. He'd let Jason down enough - but if it meant protecting his pack, then he would tell Bruce everything, no matter what that did to Jason or Aurora. Because he wouldn't have a choice.

"Anyone at any time? No." Aurora - _thankfully, thankfully_ \- shook her head: "More like some people, some of the time. Sometimes I can ask the void I portal through to open up somewhere that someone has spent a lot of time recently. That's how we got you back to the penthouse: you were literally with us, so I...I just got the void to open up where you had been recently."

Dick frowned: "That's...I probably need to ask more questions about that, but right now I can't think of what I want to know."

"Fair." Aurora shrugged: "I can't always do it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We just got lucky that it worked with you."

Jason snorted: "Not that it stopped you from finding our safehouse afterwards."

Dick smirked proudly.

People may think he was just a pretty face - _or backside_ \- but he was just as capable as the rest of the Bat pack. Especially when it came to finding things. Dick had ways that rest of the Bat pack, and Jason and Aurora didn't, ones they would never even think of, and he used them shamelessly when he wanted to track people down.

"I'm amazing, I know." Dick smirked.

Jason rolled his eyes - but his eyes were glinting teasingly: "And so modest about it, too."

"Aw, don't be jealous, Jay." Dick teased back: "When you get to be this good, you won't have to be modest either."

"Dickiebird, please." Jason smirked: "I am so far out of your crime-fighting league it's not even a joke."

Dick didn't want to touch that one - but that didn't mean he was going to admit defeat just yet: "But I'm better looking."

"You absolutely are not. Aurora, tell Dickface I'm the best-looking bat!"

Aurora huffed out an amused sound, shrugging playfully: "I dunno, Jayjay...I've heard Oracle's pretty cute..." 

"Hey! That's...that's actually pretty fair." Jason acquiesced, nodding thoughtfully: "But I am definitely the best looking male to come out of that pack. Although I will grant Dickhead over there is a close second."

Aurora ' _hmmed_ ' teasingly, making Jason growl and dig his fingers into her ribs: tickling her until she squawked with laughter. Dick and Jason laughed along with her: Jason's face alight with genuine affection and happiness when he looked at his girlfriend, and Dick...Dick swung between happiness for Jason, and...well, jealousy. There was no way of sugarcoating it. Even though it made him feel a little bit sick to be jealous when Jason was so happy, Dick was. The pair of them just looked so happy together that he couldn't help it. Aurora was sprawled between Jason's thighs, leaning back against his chest while Jason tickled her and laughed: true, honest joy painted across both their faces.

It was wonderful, for both of them, and obviously Dick felt happy for the pair of them, especially Jason: who had earned any and all happiness he could get a hundred times over, but it also reminded Dick that he was alone. That two alphas could love each other enough to spend their rut together - _an unusual feat even between alphas that were mated, given the aggressiveness that came along with rut hormones_ \- and Dick couldn't find anyone: alpha, beta, or omega. It sucked, of course it sucked, not because Jason and Aurora were happy together, but just because Dick was alone.

He hated being alone: especially when everyone else had someone. Tim and Steph had each other, Bruce was busy trying to teach Damian how to be a functioning member of society, and when Bruce wasn't busy with that there was Selina sweeping in and out of the manor whenever she pleased while Damian had his pets, and things were still too awkward with with Babs for Dick to seek anything more than the friendship-at-a-respectful-distance they currently had. It was the same with all his exes: Kori, Roy _(who was now with Kori, just to make things that little bit more weird)_ , Zatanna, Donna, Slade _(although that was awkward for more reasons than just because they had slept together)_ , none of them people Dick could exactly just...drop in and have a chat with, let alone have anything more, even on a casual basis.

Normally, he could handle it. But faced with Jason and Aurora? Dick had to work hard to focus on his happiness for them, rather than his own negative feelings. It helped that the pair of them were adorable: just looking at them made him want to smile. At least...it should.

In reality, it made him want to cry. But he couldn't show that to either or them - that would cause a whole lot of trouble, and Dick really didn't want to deal with that when he was still in his heat.

Apparently, though, he wasn't pulling off happy for them as well as he thought he was - because it only took a second of Jason looking up from Aurora's neck to have him frowning at Dick: "Everything okay, Dick?"

"Of course!"

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow: "Because you look like you're about to cry?"

Dick bit his lower lip, feeling his eyes water - _goddamn heat hormones, making me so emotional_ , he thought bitterly - and trying to talk past the lump on his throat: "Just feeling a little hormonal."

Aurora's eyes widened, the alpha part of her brain probably acutely focused on Dick now thanks to her own hormones, but it was Jason that pushed the issue: "You don't smell hormonal. You smell _sad_."

Dick tried to swallow the sudden urge to cry - he didn't want to cry in front of these alphas. He wasn't a damsel in distress, wasn't the textbook 'weepy' omega, he was a strong, independent adult! He could handle being alone during his heat. It happened every eight weeks, and he'd been handling it for the last eighteen months. He was fine. Fine!

But he still burst into tears, though.

Jason and Aurora moved in a flash: crouching on either side of him: Aurora holding one of his hands in her own, and Jason resting a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort Dick as he wailed:

"It just _hurts_!"

Jason rumbled - not the content kind of rumbled, but the comforting sound Dick remembered hearing when he was a child: "What hurts, Dick? How can we help you?"

Aurora, though, caught on a lot quicker than Jason seemed to: "You don't have anyone to spend your heat with?"

Dick shook his head miserably.

"Oh, babes," she cooed, ignoring Jason's incredulous sound and reaching out to lightly cup Dick's cheek, a touch Dick leaned into: "Dick, are you okay for us to hug you?"

Dick nodded, wanting the contact despite knowing that he shouldn't, that this was just the pair of them pitying him, but unable to stop the broken "Please." from passing his lips.

Neither Jason or Aurora pushed any further, the pair of them instead crowding Dick, gently pulling and pushing at him until he was curled up on his side: facing Jason with his face buried in his neck and Aurora curled against his back. Jason pushed one leg between Dick's, while Aurora threw one of her's over Dick's hip as she wormed her arm under his head, allowing him to his her bicep as a pillow. The position was highly improper, but in the middle of it, Dick realised that _(despite what many academics believed about unrelated alphas and omegas during an omega's heat)_ there was nothing sexual about it. Jason was rumbling contentedly in the way he had when he'd handed Aurora her tea, and Aurora herself was humming something that sounded suspiciously like a show tune. Dick felt safe and warm between the two of them, the instinct-driven part of his brain purring at being sandwiched between two strong alphas.

He hadn't meant to indulge for any longer than a few minutes, he really hadn't. He didn't want to get used to this treatment - because getting used to it only meant missing it more when it inevitably got taken away from him - but...he felt so safe. And warm. And comfortable.

Before he knew it, he was purring in a pathetic display of omega behaviours, and losing the fight against the leaden feeling in his eyelids.

He only meant to rest his eyes for a few seconds. Really. Falling asleep between the two alphas once was more than enough, at least after the fight with Scarecrow he had the excuse of being tired due to his oncoming heat and the adrenaline crash after the fight: this time he had no reason to rest between them for any longer than a few moments. But then he felt Jason's breathing even out in sleep, and Aurora's humming start to fade away, and he figured...a few hours sleep wouldn't hurt him, or them. He'd wake up in a few hours and slip away without them noticing: no muss, no fuss. That was absolutely plan Dick had in mind as he nuzzled sleepily into Jason's neck and drifted off to sleep.

This was just a little nap. Nothing more.

Nothing.


	4. Looking Ahead (Jason)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Jason and Aurora talk about what happened with Dick - and what they're going to do next.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So part of my idea for this was the idea of Jason not wanting any other kid to end up like him, so he and Aurora opened a sort-of creche in Crime Alley to look after kids who needed looking after her, it it developed into their own unofficial Pack. He inherited Bruce's habit of adopting everyone, basically.
> 
> Another part of my idea was that _Birds Of Prey_ also happened in this universe, and Aurora is sort of friends with the Birds, but is good friends with Harley Quinn, making her and Cass more unofficial pack members, because...I love Harley? Sue me. There may be a shorter piece later on going into more depth about this, but since I haven't gotten round to writing that yet, I'm just including this note and hoping it makes everything clear enough.

Jason ruffled baby-Quinn's hair, smirking at her annoyance, before sending her off with a plate of french toast.

Harley herself was a little harder to catch, but only because she was expecting the hair ruffle when she came up to grab her plate, but that didn't stop Jason.

She left with lopsided ponytails - more lopsided than she'd come into the kitchen with, at least - and Jason was left to gather up the last few piece of french toast, bacon, and sausages onto a plate and take it through to the dining room where Aurora and Kori - _not Roy and Harley: never Roy and Harley, never again_ \- were watching over the kids. All twenty-seven of them, including Cass and Lian.

When Jason became the alpha to a pack of over thirty members, he wasn't quite sure. He was fairly certain that Aurora had snuck it up on him somehow, because it was certainly never something he'd planned, but he'd never be able to prove anything, and...well, he wasn't complaining. This had started as an effort to give kids like he had been, homeless, or from abusive or neglectful homes, somewhere warm, dry, and safe to stay, but some time over the past twelve months the warehouse had become more of a home than Jason and Aurora's actual apartment, and Jason would kill or die for any of the kids in his pack.

Of course, that didn't make breakfasts with all twenty seven kids, five adults, three dogs, and that fucking hyena Harley took everywhere with her any easier. Although he greatly enjoyed that the hyena's name was Bruce, because Bruce would fucking hate that.

Tangents aside, Jason barely made it to the long table they had set up (or rather, the several dining tables they had just pushed together) with his plate of food intact. The older kids were bottomless pits when it came to breakfast foods, and Cass had decided to teach all the younger brats to pickpocket, using the adults as targets. Still, he made it to Aurora's side with most of the food he'd salvaged from the kitchen, putting the plate down on the table in front of his mate - _yes, mate, my mate_ , the alpha part of his brain purred, still thrilled at having managed to catch himself a mate as strong and proud as Aurora - before swooping her arm and sitting down in her seat, Aurora in his lap.

_Life is almost perfect._

_Almost._

Jason was overjoyed with his life. When he'd first returned to Gotham, he'd never imagined he could have this if he lived a million years, even though he'd already mated with Aurora. He had the perfect mate, loyal friends, and a loving family. There was only one person missing.

Dick.

If he was being honest with himself, and that was something he was trying to do more often, Jason could admit that his feelings towards Dick Grayson had always been...complicated. He'd hated Dick when Dick was Robin, just as he'd hated Batman, the pair never really doing much good in Jason's eyes: certainly not in his neighbourhood. When Dick had given up the mantle and Jason had taken it on, Jason had resented him: the golden boy, the measuring stick he would never be able to match in Bruce's eyes. But then he'd met him, and...and he'd been in awe of this charming, friendly omega who had greeted him with such open warmth and affection, and then put him on his ass without really trying when they got to training. The more time he'd spent with Dick, the more Jason had grown to respect and like the original Robin. Dick hadn't always been able to be there for Jason, but he had always tried, and that had meant a lot to him. And then Jason had died. And Dick hadn't come to his funeral. Hadn't tried to take revenge on the Joker when he saw Bruce wasn't going to. Had just picked up training the Replacement like Jason had never existed. And, for that, Jason had _despised_ him.

For a time, he'd hated Dick almost as much as he hated Bruce. Aurora had managed to untangle a lot of the mess in his head, mostly by being patient and willing to keep reaching out to him no matter how many times he had smacked away her outstretched hands, but she'd never tried to talk him out of his anger at the Bat pack. But, then again, she probably would've killed the Joker herself if he hadn't specifically asked her not to.

He'd had plans for the maniac, but in spite of what he'd been taught by Bruce, Jason had taken real comfort in knowing that, if he needed her too, Aurora would kill for him. Take out the monster before Jason ever even saw it coming. That knowledge had gotten him through a lot of nightmares: curled up in the arms of the woman he knew would never let him down like his so-called 'family'. It had given him the strength to get up again when Bruce had let the Joker get away once again, even though he'd been tempted to just let the dark waters of the bay take him.

In the end, he'd let go of his past. He had a mate to love and a pack to protect and a city to clean up: revenge had seemed unimportant compared to all that.

Crime Alley had become the territory of Red Hood and Void, and then the Outlaws when Arsenal and Starfire came for a visit and decided to stay. They had all come to the unspoken agreement to avoid the Bat pack as much as possible, but when they were trying to clean up a whole city, they'd all known they'd have to cross paths with Jason's traitorous ex-family members at some point. As predicted, they'd all been arseholes...except for Dick.

Dick, who just wanted Jason to come back to the fold. To be his little brother once again, under the protection of the family and safe from future home - or at least as safe as any vigilante could ever really be.

Jason couldn't stay angry at Dick, even though part of him had wanted to.

Then Dick had come to Jason and Aurora: twice. First to help them fight Scarecrow, when he knew he had to be vulnerable because of his oncoming heat. And second, when he'd spent the night in their apartment, the one they only used these days to ride out their ruts. He'd curled up on the floor between them, purring as he'd fallen asleep, stress Jason hadn't even noticed melting away from his face as Jason rumbled and Aurora hummed songs from the latest musical the pack brats were obsessed with. It had been...strangely perfect, considering Jason knew Dick didn't fully trust Jason anymore, and had never had any reason to trust Aurora any further than he could throw her.

_And then he'd been gone before they woke up._

Jason had woken up to a cold space between Aurora and himself, and nothing but the hint of his scent left behind. He'd tried desperately to hide his disappointment - Aurora was his mate, and she was more than he deserved as it was, he would never hurt or insult her by chasing after anyone else.

She'd known how he felt, though, because of course she had. She was his perfect match. And she'd admitted that she was disappointed Dick had left before they had woken up, too. Aurora was truly the perfect match for Jason: they'd both been open to having a third mate in their bond (it wasn't that uncommon, especially for same secondary-sex couples), if they found someone they both loved as much as they loved each other. It had always been a rather nebulous idea - with the vigilante life-style, their commitments to their pack, and their...erm...'interesting' personalities, it seemed unlikely they would find someone they both loved that loved them in return. But Jason thought that Dick could be that person, and Aurora did too.

Now they just had to convince Dick.

It was...unlikely to be an easy feat. Dick was as proud as they came, and he had every right to be. But if anyone could achieve it...

"Vivi! Do not throw jam jars at Harley!" Aurora snapped, pointing a warning finger at the six year old that was holding a jam jar high, ready to launch it: "She won't clean up the glass. Throw toast, instead."

And, wouldn't you know it, Vivi put down the jam jar. And frisbee'd a slice of toast at Harley's head a second later.

Because if Aurora could control the pack six year olds, some of the most unruly beings Jason had come across? She could do anything.

* * *

A week later, Jason swung into the warehouse through a hidden trap door on the roof, let himself through the security door, and made his way down into the central space of the warehouse, where Aurora usually waited up for him when he was out on patrol.

He found her watching the tv on mute: little Hailey curled up against her chest, snoring away with her chubby little toddler fist clutching at Aurora's dressing gown. It was a scene Dick would have loved - it was just a shame he wasn't here to see it. And wouldn't be for a while, either. No matter how much Jason trusted Dick with his own wellbeing, he knew that, at the bottom of it all, Dick was still loyal to Bruce: and that meant he could never know about the pack's most vulnerable. Because Jason didn't trust Bruce an inch.

"You okay?" Aurora asked quietly, reaching up to trace over Jason's eyebrow and down over his cheekbone: "You got a far away look for a moment there."

Jason sighed - there was no point lying to Aurora, and even if there was, Jason didn't want to: "Just thinking how much Dick would love being surrounded by all the kids...and how he never will be."

Aurora's hand dropped to squeeze his shoulder comfortingly: "Never say never, Jay-jay. I mean, I trust the caped cockwomble about as much as you do," she reassured when she saw Jason's dubious expression: "But Dick? I could see us trusting him, one day."

"How's that?"

"Because he loves you. And he likes me, which is a good start for the possibility of anything going any further. And the Bat pack are one of the most dysfunctional 'families' I've ever seen." Aurora paused, looking like she wasn't sure if she should say what was on her mind, before cautiously explaining: "I don't like their dynamic. Honestly, I...I really want Dick to have another pack to support him. And I want us to be that pack, but even if it's not, then I want him to have _someone_."

Jason wholeheartedly agreed.

Fuck knew Bruce wasn't a good pack alpha. Wasn't even a good example of an alpha in general, even if he was just about every stereotype there was about alphas. He was monosyllabic, emotionally stunted and unavailable, brooding, and short tempered - even though he did manage to keep that on a short leash, it was displayed in his lack of patience when it came to his packmates. And Jason had seen first-hand how that impatience had manifested when it came to Dick, the only omega in the pack.

Now, Jason hadn't actually presented as an alpha, beta, or omega when he'd first moved into the Manor, but in the two years he'd been homeless, he'd lived in a pack of newly presented teenagers. It wasn't a normal dynamic, not by almost anyone's standards, but...it seemed a damn sight healthier than the dynamic at the Manor. The pack of homeless kids didn't have a pack alpha: decisions were made by the group, and everyone's voice was equal - alpha, beta, or omega. In the Manor Bruce's was the only opinion that mattered: followed by Alfred's, the older beta usually a softer touch than Bruce but unlikely to go behind his back, something Jason wondered if Dick would've benefitted from. Because Dick struggled, at least while Jason was around to witness it. Locked away for the duration of his heats, disregarded for being unstable whenever he showed the slightest hint of emotion, treated as an emotional punching bag and expected to grin and bear all of Bruce's temper because that was what omegas did.

It had made Jason so mad.

Omegas were not punching bags. They were no less rational than betas or alphas. And spending a heat with an omega didn't have to be sexual - hell, Jason had never had sex with an omega in heat, but he had spent plenty of weeks of his life holed up in makeshift 'dens', armed with heat-packs, pain-killers, and the fact he was willing to not be a jackass. Heats weren't meant to be spent in isolation: any health class teacher could tell someone that, even if in America they were treated as something inherently sexual, even though that was just fundamentally false.

Case in point, he and Aurora had spent a night curled around Dick half-way through his heat, and neither of them had been hit with an overwhelming urge to fuck him. Had Jason wanted to sleep with Dick? Yes, technically, but it wasn't because of his heat. It was because Dick was Dick. And Dick was amazing.

"If nothing else, I want Dick to know he can come to me. To us. For anything." Jason said slowly: "Because, no matter how shitty his relationship with Bruce was, or no matter how much I'd been a bratty teenager, he was always there for me."

The _'until he wasn't'_ was unspoken...because Jason had forgiven Dick for that, and preferred to leave the whole incident left unspoken. Something Aurora didn't need to be told: "He's the only tolerable member of the Bat pack, and we all know it."

"Without doubt." Jason laughed, relaxing back into the sofa and pulling Aurora and the still sleeping Hailey closer to him: "Do you think he'll want to be with us? Romantically?"

Aurora paused, absently running her fingers through Hailey's hair: "I...don't know. He loves you, and honestly the way he was looking at you when he came to the apartment makes me think it's not really platonic, but I don't know what he thinks about me. Or whether or not he wants a commitment? Even if he could deal with us being...not exactly up to the moral standards that he's used to. I don't know."

It wasn't what Jason wanted to hear...but it was fair.

There were a lot of questions that couldn't be answered by Jason and Aurora sitting together and plotting about how to win Dick over, no matter how much Jason wished they could. Only time would tell.

Time, and their plan to let Dick know how they felt.

A plan that couldn't be enacted on until Nightwing was back out on the rooftops, and had been fine-tuned until it was the best it could be until an inevitable spanner got thrown in the works. And they had both been awake for long enough now.

It was almost four in the morning - by this point he was running on adrenaline fumes, and Aurora was keeping her eyes open through nothing more than will power. And as sexy as Jason found it when his mate turned into a zombie out of sheer stubbornness, he could currently hear their bed calling his name.

Getting to his feet, Jason took Hailey from Aurora and carried the toddler to her room in the warehouse, tucking her into her bed before following Aurora to their own room. She hadn't bothered to wait for him: the room was almost in darkness, but with the dim light from the nightlight the kids had gotten him, Jason could see Aurora had opened all the storage to put his weapons away, and opened the hamper for him to through his clothes in. Because she was an angel. And angel who was curled up happily under the duvet on their bed when he slid in himself, dressed in a t-shirt that looked a lot like the one that Jason had worn today before he changed to go out on patrol. She growled when he went to slide his hands under the soft material - snarling until he moved he had one arm under her head, and another looped around her wait, pulling her close to his chest and nuzzling his face into the back of her neck.

They lay there together in the almost-darkness, feeling their heartbeats slow down as sleep started to pull them under...before Jason asked the question he'd been plagued by since before he went out on patrol.

"Aurora?"

"Hmm?"

Jason paused...and then bit the bullet: "If things don't work out with Dick...they'll still be okay between us, won't they?"

Aurora wriggled, turning in Jason's arms and reaching up to wrap her own arms around his neck: "Jason. There is nothing - nothing - on this earth or any other that could make me want to leave you. If things don't work out with Dick, then we'll still be Jason and Aurora, just like we are now."

Feeling his anxiety melt away, Jason leant down to kiss Aurora's forehead sweetly: "I love you, Aurora."

"I love you too, Jason. More than anything." Aurora smiled, kissing the hollow of Jason's throat, before wriggling again to settle down, face buried in Jason's chest.

They'd be okay. No matter what happened, with Dick or afterwards, they'd be okay.

He knew they would.

Because they loved each other. And, for them, that was enough.

They'd be okay.


	5. Unexpected Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Aurora visits Gotham Academy to discuss enrolling one of the pack kids, and comes across an unexpected familiar face. And then makes a common enemy.**

Aurora didn't consider herself easily ruffled.

She'd grown up in a part of London that rivalled Gotham for it's violent crime, albeit without the colourful madmen. No, the madmen Aurora had grown up around didn't wear costumes and masks, they paralysed people with screwdrivers while wearing jeans and t-shirts, and taught their daughters to do the same.

It was a lesson Aurora actually valued.

No-one had fucked with their family: but that hadn't stopped her single father from teaching her how to make people scared enough to keep it that way. Between that and the all manner of insanity that had made its way through the front _(and back)_ door of the family house had given Aurora the ability to keep her cool under and the confidence to believe that she could handle almost anything, even before she ever made it to Gotham with Jason. Since coming to Gotham, having to deal with villains like the fucking Mad Hatter and friends like Harley Quinn, her feeling of belief in herself had only only increased. And that was usually a good thing...except for times where her ability to not get ruffled made her 'the responsible one'.

After all, someone in their pack had to be a functioning adult, and it wasn't going to be Harley, or Roy, or Jason. Those three could be trusted to take down a crime syndicate, but not to talk to teachers of Gotham Academy. Not if they wanted their Blue to get into this high-establishment shithole.

Blue was certainly smart - smart enough to get a full scholarship at the academy - but no amount of smarts would get the school to accept her if Jason threatened to shoot a teacher or Harley started handing out her 'Badass Motherfucker' business cards. Given that Blue's mum was too high to know Blue was even old enough to attend this school, and her dad was out of the picture, that left Aurora as the functional adult who needed to enrol Blue in this school, even it was against her better judgement. Aurora just had to keep reminding herself that although the place might be full of rich, snotty-nosed snobs, they were rich, snotty-nosed snobs who did well academically, and Blue wanted to give Gotham Academy a try.

So Aurora had put on a tailored dark teal suit and black blouse, slid her feet into black six-inch heels, and grabbed all the documentation she needed to enrol Blue before they headed into the pit of entitlement that was Gotham Academy.

_Lord, help me not give some shitty little next-in-line to the business a black eye or broken nose._

Aurora wasn't hopeful that divine intervention was going to be enough to save these kids, not given the dirty look some snotty little toff sitting outside the deputy head master's office was treating Blue too, making the little girl twitch a little closer to Aurora. Aurora didn't think twice, she growled low in her chest, the noise the exact same she used on the pack's older kids when they thought they were getting a little too overconfident, as all kids tended to do.

The kid, unlike most kids, didn't back down. Instead, he traded sneering at Blue for sneering at Aurora - as if his disdain was enough to scare her.

It made her roll her eyes.

That kid was going to be an alpha, if he hadn't presented already - and a dumb one, too. If Aurora ever came across him when he was older, she'd have no problem putting him on his entitled little arse. He just had a very punchable face. Especially when he continued to glare at Aurora even harder - like he couldn't believe that his first dirty look hadn't had her cowed. Dipshit. She stared him back, maintaining eye contact until he dropped his gaze...just as the door next to him opened.

_Great, now I'm going to have to deal with some entitled parent..._

Only it wasn't an entitled parent.

It was Dick.

And he seemed just as surprised to see Aurora here as she was to see him...only he didn't seem happy about it. Aurora tried not to feel hurt by that - there was no real reason for Dick to be happy to see her. If anything, she probably just presented a number of problems. Besides, given that the brat she had been glaring at clearly knew him, she probably wouldn't have been very happy to be here either if she was in his shoes.

"Grayson! Finally, this pitiful excuse for a school is - "

"Shut up, Damian. Go and wait in the car."

Damian looked confused: "Grayson - "

"Car, Damian. You are in enough trouble right now, do not argue with me."

Damian - _and Aurora had a light-bulb moment when she heard the name, recognising him to be Damian Wayne, Dick's youngest adopted brother and Robin_ \- looked shocked, but after a few seconds he slunk away, presumably to do as he was told. Dick didn't look like he was immediately going after him...if anything, he looked like he was going to freak out: shaking and clenching and unclenching his fists as he ground his teeth.

Sure...he hadn't seemed happy to see Aurora, but she'd be an arsehole if she didn't at least ask if he was alright. Aurora was technically _(and she insisted it was just technically)_ a supervillain, but she wasn't a bitch. 

"Blue, honey, could you go grab some water from that machine we saw down the hall, please?" Aurora asked, smiling at Blue when she nodded, then waiting for her to get out of earshot before turning to Dick: "You okay?"

"Why, am I so pathetically over-emotional and weak that you need to check up on me whenever you see me?" Dick snapped, rounding on Aurora with eyes burning. He was angry, sure, but underneath that...it was all just hurt. He was hurting, deeply.

His pain made Aurora tread carefully: "No. But you seemed seem stressed by anyone's standards."

"So what?"

Aurora raised an eyebrow at the overly aggressive tone: "So I give a shit if you're okay or not, and you're obviously not. Now, do you wanna talk about it, or do you want get back to Damian and we'll pretend that this never happened?"

Dick glared at Aurora for a few seconds, before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, but as much as she wanted to, Aurora didn't reach out to comfort him like she wanted to. Dick was obviously on edge, and she didn't want to push his boundaries and hurt him or scare him off. She merely watched him compose himself, keeping her face neutral and body language relaxed, waiting until Dick was ready to speak to her.

"I'm fine. Now. I'm fine now. I will be." Dick insisted, even though he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Aurora. Which was handy, since she was not convinced in the slightest.

But if Dick wanted to pretend he was fine...then Aurora didn't know him well enough to push the matter: "Good. How come you're on brat duty today?"

"I'm the only family member not in a business meeting." Dick rolled his eyes, his shoulders relaxing when he realised Aurora was changing the subject: "Lucky me. How about you?"

"I have the best suits." Aurora playfully tugged at the lapels of her blazer and rolling her shoulders, making Dick laugh and shake his head: "I wish I could pull that card. Everyone's always telling me my fashion sense is terrible."

"I mean..." Aurora teased: "You have nice clothes. Really nice clothes. I just don't understand why you wear them the way you do."

Dick laughed again, even has he put his hand over his heart and tried to fake an injured expression: "So hurtful, Aurora. I don't think I'll ever be able to look in a mirror again."

"Hey, don't say that. You gotta make sure you've got your pretty face, right?"

Dick smiled, looking down at the floor bashfully, before looking back up at Aurora. He didn't need to say anything - Aurora could see that the shaking had stopped, and his hands were tucked comfortably in his pockets: unclenched and relaxed. Aurora smiled softly and nodded, before Blue reappeared with three carefully carried cups of water.

"Hi Mister - got you a drink."

Aurora's smile widened at Blue's childish generosity - Blue was a goddamn sweetheart, and Aurora was fucking proud of her for that - and then widened further at Dick's gentle smile at the girl: "Thank you."

"Thank you, sweetie." Aurora took her own cup of water. Blue grinned, pleased to have have her efforts acknowledged, and leant into Aurora for a hug.

One that Aurora returned without hesitation - and that Dick's eyes openly tracked: "I didn't you you had a daughter..."

"Blue's my sister." Aurora lied easily, despite the twinge of regret that came with lying, and the following one that came with not being able to tell Dick about her and Jason's pack: "But I am her legal guardian."

"Yeah, Rory might be _old_." Blue nodded in the wise way only eleven year olds could manage: "But she's not _ancient_ yet."

Dick laughed: "I _really_ want to hear more of your opinions on Aurora, Miss Blue, but unfortunately I have to get my miscreant brother home."

"Oh...well, bye bye, Mister!" Blue waved cheerfully.

Smirking over how clearly Dick was enamoured with Blue _(she was a cute kid, so Aurora didn't blame him)_ and not wanting to break the 'Aw' look on Dick's face, Aurora waved her own goodbye to him, watching Dick walk away - _and goddamn, was that a pretty sight_ \- until he rounded the corridor, just before the door to the deputy headmaster's door opened.

Aurora was hit with the scent of smug, self-important alpha male and - _Jesus_ \- an undertone of _whiskey_ , actual whiskey - _in a goddamn school_ \- and turned to see a pudgy, red-faced middle aged man sneering down at Blue, who was still leaning against Aurora's hip. She decided that she didn't like the arsehole instantly, and the feeling was apparently mutual, given the way the prick swanned around his office, blustering and grandstanding and acting self-important. Aurora entertained several imaginative plans to end the prick while he was blathering on about shit they already knew _(she was a responsible fucking adult: that was why she had been made responsible for enrolling Blue, and why she'd memorised all the fucking basics before getting here)_ before the deputy apparently decided his pointless blathering wasn't offensive enough. 

While Aurora was going through the forms she had to sign to enrol Blue - _because even though she was assured they were 'just standard', there was no way she was signing anything she hadn't read, not from this red-faced baboon's arse_ \- the deputy head pulled out a fancy crystal decanter filled with amber liquid, and two equally fancy glasses.

"A drink, Mrs Peters? An alpha such as yourself will appreciate a fine whiskey, I'm sure."

"Ah, I'm afraid I've given up this month." Aurora lied - because no chance was she accepting shit from him: "A friend challenged me, and...well, I'm just as competitive as the next alpha, I'm afraid."

The deputy head accepted the bullshit with a nod: "Competitiveness is no bad thing in an alpha. Sign of a strong character. Not like when omegas decided they want to play at being 'fierce'."

Aurora didn't want to touch that one with a barge pole...but she had a sinking feeling she knew the exact omega he was talking about: "Oh?"

"That Grayson boy, you may have passed him in the hall. Typical omega in a family of alphas - always trying to overcompensate." he shook his head resignedly, as if it was some universal truth that all omegas who show any backbone are just 'overcompensating': "I always offer his father a drink when he comes to speak about young Damian. Even that other son, the beta will have a glass with me when he comes by. So, naturally I have the whiskey out, thinking it would be Mr Wayne or Mr Drake."

"Naturally." Aurora fought the urge to raise an eyebrow.

"Then he walks in, bold as brass - "

_I really want that drink now._

" - and I, of course, would never offer such a drink to an omega, they can't handle such things - "

_If you knew half of what he could handle, you wouldn't be patronising him like this._

" - so I put the bottle away. And Grayson rolls his eyes at me, as if he was somehow entitled or even capable of having a civilised glass of whiskey! The impudence of that boy - "

_You utter cockwomble, I swear to God -_

"Aurora, why is the man who smells bad being mean about the nice man in the hallway?"

Smirking, Aurora turned to look at Blue, who was looking up at her with an 'we're done here' look: "Because he's a bigoted arsehole, sweetie."

The deputy head spluttered, but Blue - again with all the sage wisdom of her young years painted across her face - merely nodded understandingly: "Are all the teachers here like him?"

"Unfortunately, sweetie, they probably are." Aurora nodded - and it was unfortunately, because she genuinely thought it was the case. These lot were blue-bloods, with all the arrogance and prejudices that came with that self-given status: "Some people think it's okay to mean to people, even about things that aren't their fault, and sometimes they want to teach others to be mean to those people too."

"That's gross." Blue wrinkled her nose, completely ignoring the continuing spluttering going on on the other side of the desk: "I don't think I want to go to school here."

Aurora tilted her head: "You sure, sweetie? I know you were excited about coming here?"

Finally the deputy head finally managed to get some of his shit together, blustering: "If you think I'm going to allow that mouthy little - "

Without missing a beat, Aurora turned to carry out the old snap n' snarl.

Usually reserved for bratty alpha teenagers who thought they were above the pack hierarchy, it also worked a treat on soft, all-bark-no-bite alphas who thought Aurora was in any way shape or form intimidated by them or their position. She snarled, flashing her teeth for just a second (long enough for him to catch sight of them, not so long he would be certain he saw them), and slammed her open palm on the desk.

He whimpered and shut up, just like the pussy he was.

"Blue, sweetie?"

Blue looked judgingly at the deputy head, who now looked close to tears, cowering back into his seat: "No. I can't be taught by people I don't respect."

_Savage._

"Well, you heard the lady." Aurora smiled almost - but really not - apologetically at the deputy head while tearing the unsigned papers in half: "She thinks you're all bigoted arseholes, and I can't say I disagree, so I don't think Blue will be coming to school here. We'll see ourselves out."

Blue waved cheerily: "Goodbye, you wazzock."

_I love this kid_ , Aurora thought as she rose to her feet, openly amused by Blue's cheery rudeness. The deputy head was in no position to see them out, and Aurora was proud to leave such a repulsive bastard speechless and cowering behind in his fancy desk in his posh leather chair. She only wished Dick could've been there to see Blue put the prat in his place - she thought he might have enjoyed that.

Still, even though he hadn't been there...

...It wasn't as if Aurora couldn't somehow show him that he wasn't alone in thinking that the deputy head was an an abhorrent, bigoted shithead. Once there were back in the car, it literally took nothing more than a flick of her wrist and a quick mental image before Aurora was handing Blue the fancy glass paperweight that she had been looking at while they were in that stinking office, and something she hoped Dick would appreciate. She was sure Dick would appreciate it...and if he didn't, she was absolutely certain that he'd appreciate the symbolism of the gesture. And the fact that the deputy head would be absolutely furious when he eventually found what was missing.

That, Aurora would've paid to see. And, just as the cherry on top, he'd never know what happened.

It was brilliant.

* * *

"Void?" Dick asked, probably confused as to why Aurora was here, suited and masked in her vigilante gear, on his patrol route - which was on the other side of Gotham to hers: "Can I help you?"

Aurora smiled: "I wanted to give you something."

Dick looked dubious, but stepped closer when she held out the shiny gift bag containing the headmaster's _precious_ whiskey decanter. He snatched the bag before rapidly taking some steps back to remain out of reach. Aurora wasn't offended; when a masked super villain handed you a gift bag, it was wise to treat that bag with extreme caution. She might not be as bad as Harley, but Aurora was guessing that Dick had learned that lesson the hard way thanks to her and her 'gag gifts'.

Sure, it was only a half-empty bottle of fancy whiskey, but Aurora was sure that Dick would get the message. That the deputy headmaster was a prick, and Aurora was _firmly_ on Dick's side - as was Jason, and every other reasonable person out there.

So she waited patiently for him to open the gift back, confusion and suspicion written openly across his face, before he moved aside the tissue paper and saw the light glinting off the crystal decanter.

"Is this...?"

"Guy was, in Blue's words, a wazzock. And she's right on so many levels, not the least because he was chatting shit about his meeting with you with total strangers like me and Blue, so I got her his paperweight." Aurora shrugged: "Figured I should nick something for you, too."

Dick tried to frown, but couldn't quite manage it with the happiness suffusing over his face: "I can't condone criminal behaviour, Void. I'll have to confiscate the stolen items."

Aurora grinned: "Enjoy the whiskey, Nightwing. Or set it on fire. That'd really break that arsehole's heart."

By the time Dick looked up, Aurora was gone. She did have her own round of patrols to do, after all. She couldn't spend all night chin wagging with a superhero; she was a busy woman. Besides, it would ruin her image. But if she happened to swing back a few hours later, to find an empty oil drum smoking and filled with shards of soot-covered glass, then that was her business. And if it warmed her heart slightly to see that Dick had done a little bit of therapeutic arson, then nobody but her had to know - not even Jason.

This hadn't been about winning Dick over. There was a plan for that, as much as 'be nice and let him know he's welcome wherever we are' was a plan, but this was not a part of that. This was about showing Dick he didn't have to take any shit.

From anyone.

And if Aurora had to fight Batman himself to prove that point, then she _absolutely_ would. But for tonight...tonight she'd settle with allowing Dick to destroy the possessions of the arsehole who had offended him today.

_I'm glad Dick liked his present._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are people thinking of these so far? It's turning out a little closer to an actual narrative that I was planning (as opposed to just random scenes between the main characters) but I'm pretty happy with it.
> 
> Still, I'd love any constructive criticism or just hear anyone's opinions. Leave a comment down below to let me know what you think!


	6. Looking Ahead (Dick)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Dick wonders what it would be like to be a part of relationship with Jason and Aurora. It leads to an unfortunate decision.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is pretty text-heavy. It's pretty much _all_ Dick's angsty internal dialogue...so, you know, hope you enjoy overly emotional pining!

On the other side of a rooftop with Bruce as Batman oversaw the cops pick up tonight's criminal, Dick watched as Aurora laughed at something Jason said: teeth glinting in the light of the rising sun as she threw her head back in full-on amusement. He was too far away to hear the sound of her laughter, but he could imagine the way her face would light up, even under the mask, just as he could imagine Jason's crooked grin and soft eyes as he looked down at Aurora.

Jason and Aurora always lifted the lenses of their respective domino and half masks to talk to each other. _Always_. It was just one of the ways they seemed to be in tune with each other, even in the middle of a gun fight. Dick didn't know how they managed it, but he would be lying if he said it didn't make him a little jealous. When Jason needed to reload, he ducked down to do so, and Aurora would appear behind him to shoot at his targets to stop him getting pinned down while he was occupied by reloading. When Aurora was out of her throwing knives, Jason always seemed to have a bundle of them that Aurora could portal over to herself. Neither one of them ever managed to get cornered; Aurora always managed to open up a portal if Jason was looking even the slightest bit like he was being herded, and on the one occasion Aurora had found herself against the wall, Jason had broken the neck of the guy closest to him with his bare hands, before shooting out the knees of the others. He'd then held out a hand to help Aurora step over the bodies.

It had been strangely romantic.

Of course, the warm glow of the moment had dissolved as soon as one of the men had tried to run away, and it had died forever when Bruce had swept in to stop him - and then lecture Jason about killing _(he seemed to have given up on Aurora, which was probably sensible)_ , because there were so soft warm emotions when Batman was on the scene, despite Jason and Aurora's best efforts at proving they were probably the best couple in Gotham.

Joker and Harley? Old news...plus, Harley had very publicly declared that relationship was very much dead.

Batman and Catwoman? So unstable, with their on-again-off-again dynamic.

Sofia Falcone and Rocco Gigante? Who even cared about obsolete gangsters that had long since been run out of the city?

Even 'normal' couples seemed to have nothing on Aurora and Jason, at least not in Dick's estimation. Maybe it was just an effort on their part to present a united front, but Dick didn't think that was the case. They were so comfortable around each other, and on the one occasion there had been some tension between them, left over from some fight Dick hadn't seen, neither of them had hesitated to protect each other just as fiercely as they always did. And when the fight was over? They'd grabbed each other in a hug and hadn't let go until a cop had uncomfortably cleared his throat and asked for their statements - and that was just their prompt to disappear together, holding hands as they entered one of Aurora's portals. Dick wished he could be a part of something like that.

Actually, that wasn't the whole truth...Dick wished he could be a part of _exactly_ that.

Jason and Aurora were one of the healthiest relationships he had ever seen - both with and without the mask. During a few of his rare chats with Jason, he had let slip that he liked cooking Aurora breakfast: so much so that he found himself getting up early to beat her to it, even when it wasn't his turn because he'd been patrolling the night before. During another, he had told Dick that Aurora had spent four hours and had gone to over a dozen different book stores to find Jason a book he had been after - something Dick could believe, given the fact the gift she'd given him just because some alpha jackass had _vaguely_ slighted him. Jason always ran Aurora a hot bath when she finished a patrol, with bubble bath and bath salts to ease her muscles and help her sleep. And Aurora always repaired Jason's favourite clothes over and over again because he got called to an emergency while wearing them and didn't have the heart to throw them away. Favourite clothes like the 'best boyfriend' t-shirt Aurora had gotten him for their first anniversary.

They were a stable and committed couple, despite their decidedly unstable _(and often criminal)_ lifestyle. They had a love language of seemingly little actions that actually meant a lot to each other: on top of all their open physical _and_ verbal affection for each other. They pretty much had everything Dick had ever wanted in a relationship.

Paired with the fact that they didn't give a shit that he was an omega _(to them, Dick was Nightwing first, Bruce's ally second, most friendly member of the Bat pack third, Jason's sort-of-brother fourth, socialite fifth, and an omega sixth, if ever)_ , and the fact they were genuinely kind under all their bluster and criminality? Dick would give anything to share a romantic relationship with them.

_It's never going happen._

Probably not.

Jason had always seemed like the kind to commit everything to someone in a monogamous relationship. Even when he was a kid, he had spoken about getting married and having kids one day. Dick didn't know many teenage boys who had dreamt of a wife and kids, but Jason had. And he seemed like he had found it - or something close to it - with Aurora. Dick could be realistic and accept that it was unlikely that they were wanting to add a third to their relationship.

While three-people (or even four-people) relationships weren't uncommon, and had just a high of success-rate as relationship between two people, it was hard to imagine what two people who were so happy with each other would want from a third partner. Too many cooks spoil the broth, after all, and there were plenty of stories where a happy relationship had fallen apart after adding a third person. Dick didn't want to do that to Jason and Aurora.

It didn't stop him from dreaming, though.

_Waking up like he had when he'd spent the night in their apartment: Aurora pressed against his back and his face resting on Jason's chest, surrounded by the scent of all three of them._

_Going into heat and spending the first few uncomfortable days with his alphas: head in Aurora's lap while she ran her fingers through his hair and Jason massaged the cramps out of his lower back._

_Having a little girl with Aurora's blonde curls and Jason's sea green eyes running around, waving a picture of the four of them: a happy family._

Dick hated himself for having such stupid fantasies. Why his brain couldn't just stick to the sexual stuff, he didn't know, but he wished his subconscious would stay in its lane and forget all this sappy 'future-with-kids' stuff. For the sake of his own mental well-being.

Being in a relationship with Jason and Aurora would be amazing. They were everything alphas should be: protective, supportive, and committed to their relationship. Dick would never have to worry about Jason eyeing up a waitress while they were on a date. Aurora wouldn't decide she couldn't be bothered to come over to his apartment and not bother to let him know, because he was _"smart enough to figure it out"_. Neither of them would ever leave him alone to stitch up a wound in the bathroom after a patrol gone wrong.

They wouldn't avoid him when he was sick. They wouldn't take Bruce's side after he and Dick fought, when Dick just wanted a bit of support. They wouldn't laugh at him for wearing makeup or otherwise 'giving in to his omega side'.

What they would do, though?

Jason would absolutely bring Dick lunch when he forgot and was too busy with a case to go about and grab something to eat. Aurora would unhesitatingly fight - or at least insult or inconvenience - any alpha who insulted Dick. Jason would be eager to playfully spar with him in the gym in his apartment building. Aurora would happily help with his make-up before a night out. Jason and Aurora supported each other no matter what the form that 'support' took. Aurora sprained her ankle? Jason carried her around on his back until Batman decided debriefing was over. Jason lost a gun to Damian's thievery? Aurora pulled another from thin air (well, portal) without even being asked. Dick had no doubt that, as a part of that relationship, they'd treat him the with the same care and love.

It was just that there was no chance that Dick would ever get that chance. Even if suddenly their pair decided that they wanted to add an omega partner to their dynamic, they would never, _ever_ choose Dick.

Dick was Nightwing. He had been running after them across the rooftops just as often as running with them. He was constantly foiling their attempts to kill people. He was Bruce's ally: and if there was one thing Jason would be unable to forgive him, it'd be that. The fact that Dick had sided with Bruce when Jason had returned to Gotham: had tried to prevent his plan to force Bruce to either kill him or the Joker, was a cardinal sin in Jason's eyes - and likely Aurora's too. They might have gotten over it enough to work with Dick, and enough to help him when he burst into tears in front of them, but their forgiveness would never amount to more than that.

All he would ever get was that one night cuddled on their apartment floor. And he should be grateful, really, that they gave him that much - anything else, anything more, he'd have to find someone else to share it with him.

"Nightwing?"

Dick turned to see Tim looking at him in concern, the last to leave the rooftop that Bruce and Damian seemed to already have vacated: "I'm alright."

Of course, Tim wasn't convinced: "You sure?"

"Always." Dick grinned, ruffling Tim's hair as soon as he was within arm's reach: "Thanks for asking, Red Robin."

"You're welcome..." Tim rolled his eyes and tried to smooth his hair back into place: "...but if there was anything wrong, you know you could talk to me about it, right?"

"I know, Timbo." Dick nodded - because he did. Tim always listened, and always tried to help: "You're always there for me."

Tim smiled back, the expression less flashy than Dick's but far more genuine: "Always."

They left the rooftop together, and Dick knew in his heart of hearts that this was enough for him.

He had his Pack: his family, and he had his work both as a detective and as a vigilante. It was enough for him for now: and everything else - the love of his life, their future children, and their house in the suburbs with the dog and white picket fence - would all come, in time. Dick just had to be patient.

It would come.

* * *

A month later, and Dick was struggling to be patient.

The dreams weren't helping - yet again he woke up feeling like he'd been punched in the chest and the need to change his sheets. The more...x-rated dreams were frustrating, but the worst thing was the fact that Jason and Aurora were still everything he wanted.

He'd run into them the night before last. At first he'd thought it was just Jason taking a break on a rooftop, but then Aurora had appeared in her street clothes with two take-out cups of hot chocolate, and Dick had realised he'd interrupted some kind of impromptu date while Jason had a ten minute break from patrolling. And what had the pair of them done? Spent their date talking to him. Aurora had even offered to get him his own drink - and when he'd refused, she'd offered him some of hers. Because it was cold out, and she wasn't out on the rooftops like he and Jason were. How was Dick supposed to not want that all the time?

It had been really nice.

And it had been playing on his mind ever since. So much so that Tim had asked him what was on his mind again - and although that was never Dick's intention, he knew Tim was starting to worry. If Dick had hung around, Tim would've started asking questions, so Dick had made a tactical retreat back to Blüdhaven before things got any more awkward for him. It should've been fine...except that now he missed Jason and Aurora, even though he had no right to feel that way. It was ridiculous. It was dangerous.

No matter how nice Jason and Aurora were to Dick: they wouldn't be so kind if they learned about all the fantasies, all the wet dreams, and all the times he'd been lost in thought thinking about them. And if Dick didn't get a handle on the way he felt, he was bound to slip up. Again. Because he'd already spent one night of them, two alphas who weren't pack, weren't even friends, not truly.

_I have to be better._

_I have to have a plan._

_And it's not going to formulate itself._

So Dick pulled himself out of his wallowing and started planning.

Unless there was a crisis, he could easily avoid Jason and Aurora. They patrolled Crime Alley and the Bowery: the territory that belonged to the Outlaws' pack, and parts of the city the Bat pack had learned to stay clear of without good reason. Dick's own Gotham patrol route did sometimes overlap with theirs, but it wouldn't if he asked to swap routes with Time. And Tim would swap, too, without any questions asked if Dick told him that was what he needed. Putting distance between himself and the objects of his obsession should be a good start to getting over them. Of course, it still left crisis scenarios, but Bruce was never too fond of asking Jason for help, so in any situation where Dick was forced to work with them would likely be a situation that required too much focus to have any left over for Jason or Aurora.

As for their friendliness, that was only because Dick was the most friendly member of the Bat pack. That could change easily - Dick could just treat them with the same coldness as Bruce did, and they'd soon stop seeing him as friendly. It...it wasn't something he wanted to do, but if it meant creating some distance between himself and them, then he wasn't sure he had much of a choice.

He needed that distance. He didn't want to hurt Jason and Aurora, but he literally didn't see any other option.

The thought was already hurting his heart.

_Maybe I could just explain how I feel...ask them to step away to let me get over them._

Dick sighed, the sound loud in his empty apartment. He could explain how he felt, and he was sure that they would do as he asked them...but they'd always think of him as pathetic Dick Grayson, the omega who couldn't keep it in his pants or handle his emotions. Damian would become even more insufferable about Dick's secondary-sex; he'd never let him live it down. Bruce...Bruce might actually disown him for giving any form of leverage to a pair of Gotham's most dangerous rogues. At least he'd try and ban Dick from Gotham for all but emergencies. Even Tim would probably tell him that he should've just pushed them away without saying anything, and the even-tempered beta would probably be the closest thing to an ally if Dick was to come clean about any of this to the pack.

So what else could he do?

Be shitty to two people who didn't deserve it, or bring down the wrath of his family upon his head? Not just his family, but his pack?

At the end of the day, Dick knew he had to stick with his pack; because he didn't have anyone else. His friends? Kori and Roy were with the Outlaws, Hank and Dawn didn't want anything to do with superhero life anymore, and that included Dick, even if they said it didn't. Zatanna was Bruce's friend first. Donna was busy with her own life, dividing her time between San Francisco and Themyscira. Catalina...Dick didn't think he could even look at Catalina anymore. In the end, the Bat pack were the only people Dick could reply on. He couldn't risk alienating them on the possibility of keeping Jason and Aurora was friends. If the boot was on the other foot, then he was sure they would do the same thing, and he wouldn't blame them. If he had then chance to explain the situation to them, then he was also sure they wouldn't blame him.

It wasn't enough to stop him from feeling guilty, but it was enough that Dick resolved to push Jason and Aurora away. They might be upset, but they had each other: and they had their pack of misfits with Kori, Roy, and Harley. They'd be okay - and maybe, one day, if he ever got to explain himself, they may even forgive him.

He hoped they'd forgive him.

One day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not sure whether or not this is going to get smutty at all? I know Dick mentioned sexual fantasies in this chapter, but I always feel like I'm not very good at writing smut, so what do you guys think? Would you be interested in reading smut, or should I stick to fluffy stuff?


	7. The Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Jason can't understand why Dick is acting so cold - he can only figure it's something he did, something he needs to apologise for. Aurora isn't so convinced.**

Jason sat on a rooftop, looking up at the cloudy sky, and tried to ignore the cold of the concrete below him seeping into his skin.

Even if it was uncomfortable, it wasn't as bad as the tangled mess in his head right now.

He'd done...something. He didn't know what, and that unsettled him. Jason lived in fear of the pit rage that had consumed him after he was first hauled out of the League of Shadow's Lazarus Pit. He'd been a shell of a man: but a shell of a man with the training to strength to hurt and kill without thinking. He'd been dangerous, and what was worst was that he still had no clear recollection of his time spent as that shell. Talia's training had helped him start to become cognisant of his actions again: and Aurora's love had made him human once more, so it'd been almost five years since Jason had lost time to the madness.

But that didn't stop the nightmares. The terror that one day he'd sink back into the haze of pain and desire to _hurt_ and that he'd lash out at someone who he cared about.

And it seemed as if that was exactly what he'd done. At least, he as guessing that was what he'd done; there was no other explanation for why Dick was suddenly acting so...like Bruce.

Holier-than-thou, cold, and like Jason was nothing more than shit he'd trodden in in the street. There were no more friendly chats when their patrol routes crossed over - which was rarer than rare now Dick had switched routes with Tim - no more waving to each other from distant rooftops, no more offers to lend a hand with criminals. Even Aurora was getting the cold shoulder, meaning whatever Jason had done must have been bad.

Worse than bad.

If only he could remember what he had done: he could fix it. The not knowing was a whole different layer of troubling - a completely different (and equally shitty) cause to fear. Because if he couldn't remember this...what else couldn't he remember?

Had he hurt Aurora? Roy? Harley? He knew they wouldn't tolerate him being shitty to the kids, but they were all as fucked up by their respective pasts as he was, and would _absolutely_ tolerate him being shitty to them, especially if because they thought it was the pit madness to blame. It was entirely possible that he had lashed out at them, and they hadn't told him about it because they didn't want him to feel guilty. Of course, he could have not done anything to them, and it was just Dick he'd fucked up with, but...Jason had no way of knowing. And it was making him feel sick to the pit of his fucking stomach.

"I could feel you worrying from the other end of the Bowery."

Which was, of course, when Aurora opened a portal to walk out onto the rooftop with two thermoses and a sad smile.

Even fucked up as he was, Jason couldn't help but smile back, accepting the thermos she held out to him with his own smile, tired and short as it was. Because no matter how fucked up he was, Jason was always happy to see Aurora. Always: even when he knew they were about to have a difficult conversation.

"My head's fucked." Jason sighed, not bothering to hide anything from Aurora. She saw right through him when he tried - and it was nice not to have to keep up a front: "You didn't have to come all the way out here."

"I know I didn't. But I wanted to." Aurora settled down on the roof next to Jason, leaning in so their arms were pressed against each other's: "We don't have to talk about whatever's running round your head if you don't want to."

Huffing out a breath, wondering if he did want to talk about it...and then deciding he'd been a coward long enough. It was time to grab the bull by the horns: "Be honest with me?"

Aurora looked back at him, her expression wide-open for him to read: "Of course."

"Have I been...acting strangely at all? Recently?"

"No."

Like it was that simple.

Even though it wasn't - it couldn't be - hope flared in Jason's heart. It was so tempting to just give in to the thought that if Aurora said he hadn't been acting strangely, then he hadn't been, at least not to anyone she'd hear about it from. He wanted to believe it so badly, but he couldn't...

...Except for the fact that, while Aurora might omit details to protect him sometimes, she would never lie to him when he directly asked her a question. Never: especially not about something as important as this. It could very well mean that the pit madness hadn't returned when he was around Aurora or his pack. With Aurora saying she hadn't noticed anything, and the fact he knew for certain that she wouldn't lie to him, then it would absolutely be the most logical conclusion...which only left Jason with the question why, if not because of something he had done, was Dick acting as if Jason had mortally offended him?

And how did he fix it?

Knowing his thought processes far too well, Aurora took one of Jason's hands and squeezed to get his full attention: "I've noticed that Dick's acting weirdly too, Jay, but...I don't think it's something we've done. I know it's not anything _you've_ done."

Jason shook his head, the hope in his chest dying: "You don't know that. You _can't_."

"You gave me permission to keep an eye on you, even now you're free of the pit madness." Aurora reminded him gently: "The pit's effects haven't come back, Jason, not at all. And of all your interactions with Dick and the people in the city he cares about that I've been around for, I've not seen you do anything that warrants his change in attitude. I know I don't see everything, but if you can't remember what you've done to make Dick be a...well, a dick, then it's because you haven't done anything."

If it was anyone else, Jason wouldn't have trusted their words...

...But Aurora was meticulous in keeping an eye on him, because he'd made her promise to be that way. A friend from London had placed a charm on him: one that was dormant unless the pit madness took over his mind and then it alerted Aurora and led her straight to him. He also allowed her to track him, just as an extra fail-safe, and although she didn't like checking up on him, she did if he went too long without checking in, or sometimes just at random, just to make Jason feel more comfortable. It meant she saw a lot: from any potential slips back into insanity, to his almost melt-downs on random rooftops.

Sighing, Jason leaned into Aurora until his head was resting on top of hers, arm around her shoulder while hers came up to wrap around his waist, the two of them sitting in silence as they looked out over their city.

Even if Dick had suddenly decided he was too good to associate with the likes of 'criminals' like him and Aurora, Jason knew that, although he would be sad, he wouldn't break. What he felt for Dick was the potential for love: but it wasn't love, not like what he felt for Aurora. And nothing like he felt back from Aurora every time she came to find him on a rooftop to snap him out his brooding, every time they got up early to cook breakfast together for _their_ pack, every time Jason came home a little beaten up and Aurora took care of every minor scrape and bruise like it was a mortal injury. What they had was special, the kind love that made Jason feel like he had a home for the first time in forever, a home wherever Aurora was, and nothing would ever change that: Dick's inclusion or exclusion in their relationship included.

_"Jason. There is nothing - nothing - on this earth or any other that could make me want to leave you. If things don't work out with Dick, then we'll still be Jason and Aurora, just like we are now."_

Jason and Aurora...just like they were now, no matter what came their way.

Whatever Dick's problem was - and Jason _would_ find out, because he wasn't giving up on wanting Dick just yet - if things did work out that the three of them couldn't somehow get past it, then Jason wouldn't be heartbroken. He had Aurora: and she was already more than he could ever reasonably ask for from the universe.

Smiling, Jason took a sip of the thermos...before choking at the burning sensation of alcohol lighting up his throat when he swallowed.

Coughing, Jason turned to Aurora, only to see her laughing: "Did you spike this?"

"You were sad!" Aurora defended, laughing even harder.

"So you decided to give me booze?"

"Booze and _tea_. It's literally how my family solve all their problems."

"Your family is insane." Jason replied incredulously - because, seriously, he'd never seen people drink like Aurora's father and uncles. They could drink sailors under the table.

"So?"

Jason burst out laughing, before leaning in to kiss Aurora sweetly, his worries about Dick temporarily pushed from his mind.

As long as he had her, he'd be okay.

* * *

Aurora didn't have Jason's patience for Dick Grayson's shitty moods.

She knew she should try - at least long enough to come up with a possible reason for why Grayson's mood had changed so drastically for literally no reason, but she didn't. Because Grayson's cold shoulder treatment had upset Jason, and as far as Aurora was concerned, that was a punchable offence.

Literally - she'd knocked people out for upsetting her mate. And she didn't regret it.

After she left Jason to go back on patrol, Aurora wondered if she should go home or track down Grayson and find out exactly why he thought it was okay to treat Jason like a pariah. It was certainly tempting, and Aurora had always been taught to be direct when it came to solving problems, but being aggressive probably wouldn't win her or Jason and favours with Grayson, and Aurora didn't want to give him any other reasons to make Jason feel like shit. So even though she really wanted to go and give Grayson a piece of her mind, Aurora decided to do the sensible thing.

Cause trouble.

The thing was, unlike Jason, Aurora wasn't one of the 'good guys'. She was raised by a gangster, a man who loved her and wanted her to be just as dangerous as he was so that no-one would fuck with her. An irritating side-effect of an upbringing like that? Aside from a few regrettable tattoos, a habit of going out and committing petty crimes when she was upset with something. She didn't fight it; Aurora had long ago accepted who she was as a person, and she was happy with it, and she surrounded herself with people who were similarly happy with how she was. Some of whom also shared her predilection for stress-crime.

It was always so nice to go on a crime spree with friends - especially friends like Harley and Kori, who never judged Aurora for stealing trashy lingerie and over-the-top jewellery.

Which was exactly why Aurora didn't hesitate to pull out her phone: "Harls? I'm feeling the need for new underwear. You in?"

_**"Me and Kori are already in the Diamond District, Rory. You're gonna need to catch up."**_ Harley laughed down the line, before hanging up.

Aurora made it to the Diamond District in record time: forgoing her usual costume for just her mask and gloves with her normal black leather pants and sparkly silver crop top. She wanted some obscenely tasteless and offensively expensive jewellery, some new shoes, and some new underwear that would make Jason forgive her from risking getting caught by the Bats just to rob some rich people. In that order.

Maybe she'd grab the underwear first. Something in red and black...or white.

Jason really liked her in white.

When she caught up with Harley and Kori, waiting for her outside the entrance to Gotham's most 'exclusive' (read: expensive) outdoor shopping centre...Harley with a mallet in one hand and a baseball bat in the other, while Kori was holding a goddamn battering ram. Because who gave a fuck about subtlety?

Not them.

_This is why I love these girls._

Kori and Harley welcomed her with hugs, hugs that felt like pack and comfort, and then backed off only enough so Harley could hand over the bat to Aurora. Then they portalled past the grand iron gates that cordoned the shopping centre off, and they were on their way.

It was time for their retail therapy.

"How's Jay?" Kori asked as the slipped inside the centre, heading for a designer jewellery shop that specialised in the weird and wonderful tacky shit they liked.

"Reassured he's not losing it." Aurora replied, happy to at least be honest about it: "But still cut up about upsetting the dickhead. He still thinks he's done something wrong..."

Harley looked incredulous: "But our jaybird is innocent! For once!"

Aurora snorted: "Hence why I'm out stealing shit with you two. It was that or confront dickface, and that probably wouldn't help the situation."

"Probably." Harley nodded, before grinning and gesturing to the mannequin in the shop window - the one wearing a tiny diamond and platinum thong, diamond garter belts, and a platinum and sapphire body chain: "But you know what will? Diamond lingerie!"

"Harley, that's the most sensible thing you've said all week." Kori laughed.

"Let's get it." Aurora grinned.

Ten minutes later, Aurora was the proud owner of a new set of diamond lingerie, several shiny bracelets, a fistful of rings, and a great pair of earrings. Harley had found a bralette covered in neon pink gemstones that she was cooing over, amongst other brightly coloured things, and Kori was the proud new owner of enough necklaces to choke a horse, in every shade of pink and purple under the sun. Even after one break-in Aurora was feeling better already. More centred. Ready to take on anything that came her way.

Which was handy, when Robin swept down directly into their path.

Because where Robin was, Daddy Bat was never far behind.

Sometimes Aurora wondered if the Bat pack knew she knew all their identities...or even if they knew she knew about Jason's history. They didn't seem to know they were mated - _world's greatest detective my arse_ \- and they had never tried to warn her off of sharing their secrets...but seeing Damian Wayne, the contemptuous, snot-nosed little twat, in a Robin mask always made Aurora want to laugh in his face. Tim Drake was one thing, but Damian Wayne wasn't fit to where the mantle Jason had literally died wearing. If it wasn't shitty to beat up kids, Aurora would've smacked the sneer off of that kids face months ago.

As it was...

Aurora waved her hand through the air dismissively, knowing it would piss the kid off: "Scram, birdbrain."

"Such obvious jokes are hardly amusing, Void."

Harley snorted: "Don't you mean _emu_ -sing?"

"Clown - "

"Harley, don't be mean." Aurora pretended to chide her friend: "Look at his face, you've made him feel all _hawk_ -ward."

Damian glared: "Do you two practice this idiocy?"

Kori grinned: "No, they're just winging it."

"We're having a hoot!" Aurora grinned tauntingly.

Aurora was having fun with this - she knew she shouldn't, given that Damian was, like, ten...but he had an ego bigger than most of the supervillains Aurora knew, so she didn't feel too guilty about mocking him with bird puns. It was fun! Unfortunately, it was fun that had to end when Batman swept down behind his son.

It was a shame, because Aurora was truly going to miss being able to make the bird jokes, but they had still had things they wanted, so Aurora had no choice but to open up a portal under them and let them fall through it before they even realised the ground under their feet had disappeared. They never saw it coming - but they never did, making them lucky Aurora was only using it as a temporary measure. An hour in the void should be enough to deter them from interrupting their shopping sprees in the future. She'd let them out when she, Harley, and Kori were on their way home.

Until then...

"Do you think that fancy chocolate place is still here? Jay really liked their chocolate coated strawberries." Aurora asked: "And it's always fun to give the kids a sugar rush before he and Roy have to look after them for the day."

Harley had bounced over to a map of the centre, before cheering: "It's still here! And after that, can we get shoes? Cass needs a new pair of boots."

"I got blood on my suede heels." Kori commiserated: "I could do with looking for a replacement pair."

They both looked to Aurora, who grinned: "I'm always happy to get more shoes. Let's do it."

Several hours later, Aurora was waiting in her bedroom in the warehouse, wearing nothing but her stolen jewellery, the bejewelled underwear, and black thigh-high boots that were tall enough she could clip the ends of the garter belt to them, waiting for Jason to come back from patrol.

And, of course, she was holding a bag of chocolate covered strawberries.

Jason almost looked like a statue, he went so still when he caught sight of her leaning by the window, frozen just in front of the door he'd just closed - and damn if that wasn't something to make a girl feel special? Aurora grinned at the shocked look on his face, enjoying the way it slowly melted from surprise into lust, and then into humour when she schooled her expression into something innocent and held out the bag of sweets.

"I got you some strawberries."

Jason grinned, the expression brilliantly bright and sharp: "Amongst many other wonderful, wonderful gifts."

"Never say I don't do anything for you." Aurora smirked, twisting so the dim light of the room to make the jewels she was wearing glitter: "I fought the bat-brat to get away with this shit."

His eyes were glinting with amusement, but Jason still groaned playfully, acting 'conflicted': "I don't know what I want to do more...help you take off everything except that garter belt, or hear about what you said to demon child."

"Why not both?"

"Both sounds great."


	8. Regrets And Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Dick is regretting his decisions. All of them. Then he makes a more fortunate decision than the last ones.**

Dick slumped face-first into the pillows of the bed in his Blüdhaven apartment, groaning and wishing for his day to just be _over_ already.

He was tired. He was achy from a brush with some gang members while on patrol last night. And he was hungry.

It was at times like these Dick wondered if he should just give in and sign up to one of those services that found omegas suitable alpha partners, or allow Bruce to take one of those socialites up on their offers to find Dick a good match. Anything to get him someone to cuddle and provide some food while he tried to find the energy to make his way to the shower. It didn't even have to be good food - he'd accept anything right now. Even a bowl of boiled cabbage.

_Not that his ideal alphas would ever give him something like that._

Groaning again, Dick lifted his head from the pillows only to drop it back down in an effort to literally bash the thoughts of his 'ideal alphas' out of his head. He had hoped putting distance - both physical and emotional distance - between the three of them would help him get over them, but it wasn't helping as much as he'd hoped it would be. Or at all, really. They were still in his every dream and fantasy, no matter what he did to try and remove them.

He'd even been on dates!

Dates!

It had been humiliating: so much so that Dick was never, ever going to accept an offer of a date as Dick Grayson ever again. Rob had seemed like a perfectly nice alpha: a tech in the lab at the Blüdhaven police department, always very respectful of omegas in general and Dick specifically, and his offer of dinner and a mid-priced restaurant had seemed like a very normal and not at all like solicitation. Dick hadn't seen how it could've gone wrong - but, dear God, had it gone wrong. And _fast_.

The first date was okay. They'd gone to dinner, and sure there was no spark, but Rob was nice enough and they'd been speaking mostly about work, so Dick had thought that maybe it was just an off night. Rob had walked him home and asked him out for another date instead of asking to come in, and Dick had said yes because...well, he'd had no reason not to. Rob wasn't pushy, he didn't overstep, and they'd had a nice night. So what if nice was a little bit less than what Dick had dreamed for himself? Nice was good: it was safe: and it meant he should at least give Rob a go on a second date. A second date that was, basically, much the same as the first one.

But then the third date...oh, the third date. Dick was so glad it was over now. Dinner at another restaurant, this one a lot fancier than the first two, and this time Rob was more interesting in drinking champagne than making conversation with Dick. He'd ordered the most expensive food, raised an eyebrow when Dick went with pasta in a creamy sauce rather than the chicken and vegetables, and made a joke about getting Dick drunk so he'd be easier to get into bed.

Dick had never wanted to see Aurora show up unexpectedly more than he did in that moment. Because if she had thought the deputy head master was bad...Dick could only imagine how she'd react to Rob.

Unfortunately, Aurora was busy in Gotham, and Dick had to endure Rob's increasingly lewd comments and the sneer at Dick ordering whiskey with dessert. By the time he basically told Dick he was responsible for the bill, Dick had already decided that there wasn't going to be a third date. He might be desperate, but he wasn't _that_ desperate. He was pretty sure no-one was - Rob's behaviour was so ridiculously unattractive and offensive that Dick had on more than one occasion wondered if he was being tested in some way. If Bruce was trying to see how well he could keep his cool. He made it clear that the night was over when they left the restaurant, telling Rob that he didn't think they had any potential as anything other than co-workers _(not friends: because Dick never wanted to see this man again if he could help it)_ and it was best they went their separate ways.

Well, Rob hadn't liked that.

And he'd had no problem telling Dick about it.

Rob had ranted for twenty minutes: calling Dick a cock-tease, a prude, a spinster that was getting too old for any 'real alpha' to want. It had taken everything in Dick not to punch him in the face, or burst into tears, but when Rob had then looked at him expectantly and asked who's they were going back to, Dick had come real close to just screaming.

Now Dick was home _(without Rob, thank Christ)_ tired, hurting physically, and smarting from Rob's words: and all he wanted was another night curled up between Jason and Aurora. They might not love him, but he knew they would support him after a night like the one he'd just had. They'd commiserate with him about his terrible date, say he should get up and kick Rob's ass, and offer to come with him. Instead he was here alone, and the two of them were off somewhere, probably wondering why Dick was being such an asshole to them...unless he mattered so little to them that they hadn't even noticed that he was avoiding them.

_God, that's too depressing to even think about it..._

Hauling himself off of the bed, Dick wondered into his kitchen. The pasta and dessert hadn't been enough, apparently, but that wasn't too abnormal for Dick. What was abnormal was the feeling of loneliness that was hollowing out his chest. The kind of hollowness that couldn't be filled with food, no matter how much he ate.

It was the longing to be with a pack.

A longing Dick shouldn't feel.

He had a pack. A good pack! A pack who loved him, even if it would be fair to say they had unusual ways of showing it. Sure, they weren't as affectionate as, say, the Outlaw Pack: with Roy leaping on Jason at any given moment, and Harley, Aurora, and Kori breaking dancing together through their latest crime spree: twirling each other round and laughing as they pocketed tens of thousands in jewellery. Sure, it would be nice to have people like that in his life, but was it really worth trading for Bruce's silent strength, Tim's gentle smiles, Steph's quick words, and Damian's violent protectiveness?

_Yes._

No!

The thought was unbidden, but that didn't stop it from hanging around his head. It was a stupid idea...if for no other reason than because it wasn't like he'd get kicked out of the Bruce's pack just because he started hanging out with the Outlaws. Being friendly with the Outlaws didn't mean he was leaving the Bat pack. He'd just be being friendly.

He knew he'd wanted to avoid Jason and Aurora, but after a month Dick knew that his avoidance wasn't really gaining him anything: certainly not the emotional distance he had been hoping for. He still wanted the both of them desperately, and that wasn't going away any time soon, whether he wanted it to or not. All he was doing by staying away and exiling himself in Blüdhaven was making himself miserable and lonely - and probably making Jason feel bad, if Tim's texts were any indication. It had been brought up a few times that Jason was avoiding the family more than usual, and that Aurora was more antagonistic than they'd ever seen her, only lending credence to the idea that Jason was upset with Dick. Add in the fact she had stolen bejewelled lingerie and a pair of thigh-high boots...Dick was guessing she was trying to cheer Jason up.

As much as Dick appreciated the image of Aurora in that lingerie - _because he had looked up what it looked like, of course he had_ \- he wished she didn't have to make that effort. And the fact that she'd had to do some because of him made it ten times worse. Especially when Dick reminded himself that all his reasoning was flawed.

It had been a flawed idea from the start, one Dick should've known it wouldn't work.

Somehow, he needed to make it up to the people he'd hurt.

_And how exactly am I going to do that, between Jason's pride and Aurora's penchant for people who she thought were upsetting Jason?_

It was a valid thought...but Dick had plenty of time to plan how he was going to placate them. He was stuck in Blüdhaven for at least another fortnight: that would hopefully be enough time to formulate a suitable apology. He wanted it to be just right, not just because he had a feeling it would have to be perfect to impress Aurora, but also because it was no less than Jason deserved. Dick knew Jason likely had some abandonment issues, thanks to the Bat pack's treatment of him, so basically ghosting him had been a downright shitty thing to do. It warranted a proper apology.

Dick just wasn't sure what form that apology was going to take yet.

He couldn't just stroll into Gotham and arrange to bump into them while they were out on patrol; they'd just tell him they didn't have time for him. Similarly, he couldn't try and find them while they were out as civilians, largely for the same reason, since neither of them seemed to show their faces unless they had to run some form of errand. They spent most of their time holed up in one of their dens...Dick had long suspected they had a main den, somewhere deep in the area they patrolled, far away from anywhere Bruce could see, but Dick couldn't just show up there, either. They were hiding something - Dick didn't know what, and he didn't dare look, knowing that digging into their secrets would only damage any trust they had in him.

But that left him with very few options when it came to contacting them. He couldn't find them on patrol, he couldn't find them while they were out and about, he couldn't find them at home. At this rate, his only chances were a city-wide emergency or interrupting one of their rare date nights, and honestly neither of those really seemed like the right time for an apology. Out of the two though...

Date night might be the only time he didn't shouted at by both his pack _and_ Jason and Aurora, so it was his best (if still unfortunate) bet.

_Jason's gonna punch me in the face. And Aurora's going to let him._

Honestly, Dick might just let them, if it meant they forgave him.

Failing that...he had another idea. Bruce was going to tear him a new one over it, but...well, it really was _really_ selfish for him to keep Jason's old motorbike locked up like it was a museum artefact and not someone's property. And if Dick was the one to liberate it and give it back to it's rightful owner, at a time when he happened to trying to show that owner that he was sorry he'd been such an asshole...that was just a coincidence. Really. Bruce would never have to know anything different - and Dick doubted he would, since he didn't even know Dick had upset anyone.

It was the perfect solution. Dick just needed to work out when the others were out of the cave so he could get the bike out of there...

Easy-peasy...

Sort of.

* * *

Jason stared at the gleaming motorcycle sitting in the entrance to the alleyway that he had once been caught in, stealing the tyres off of the Batmobile.

It was obviously a trap.

He didn't know how - or why, yet - but the fact his bike from when he was Robin was just waiting for him half-way through his patrol route that just happened to be where his path to being a vigilante had started, all shiny and innocent looking with a note tucked under the wheel rim, obviously made it a trap. The best thing Jason could do would be to just ignore it.

So of course that wasn't what he did. But he was sensible enough to message Aurora with his location and a picture of the Robin Cycle, because he wasn't a complete moron. Just mostly a moron.

Aurora agreed with the unspoken assessment, stepping out of one of her portals a second later: "This has trap all over it. In big, neon, glowing letters."

"That's why I called you." Jason smiled charmingly: "Wanna read the note that came attached to it?"

"Of course."

_Hi J - sorry for being a Dick recently. I hope this goes same way to make up for my behaviour._

It wasn't signed, but it didn't need to be; Jason knew who it was from. Even he he hadn't capitalised it, it was obvious that _'being a Dick'_ meant more than an apology from Dick about his recent behaviour. An apology Jason was a little surprised to be receiving.

They'd all been raised by Bruce, after all, and Bruce never apologised for anything. He might try to make up for his wrongs, but he never admitted he was wrong or said sorry. Dick and Jason were almost exactly the same - as were Tim and Damian, Jason was willing to bet. Sure, neither of them were as bad as Bruce, but Jason still couldn't remember the last time Dick had said sorry to him, either in person or via paper. Even without the Robin Cycle...the apology meant a lot to Jason. Enough that he was tempted to just forgive Dick, especially since he had included the Robin Cycle on top of the _'sorry'_. An apology from any of the Bats was worth its weight in gold.

"You want to forgive him, don't you?" Aurora asked, looking at Jason's face in open contemplation.

Jason wasn't uncomfortable with the scrutiny: "I do."

"He doesn't deserve it."

"I'm not saying you have to forgive him." Jason responded: "I grew up with Dick. Apologising doesn't come easy to him, not with the way Bruce raised him."

Aurora didn't look convinced, but she softened slightly: "I'm mostly upset with Dick because he upset you...so if you want to forgive him, then I won't be as mad at him as I am."

"He ghosted you too, Rory." Jay pulled Aurora into a hug, feeling a pang in his chest both at the thought of her getting mad on his behalf (he was so lucky to have someone who loved him enough to get mad for him) but also at her thinking that she didn't have a right to be upset with Dick if he wasn't upset with him: "It's okay if you want to be mad at him."

"You're the one that knows him. I don't, not really..."

Jason pressed a kiss to her forehead: "You like him. He decided to avoid and ignore you, seemingly for no reason. It doesn't matter that I've known him longer than you, or that you were kind enough to look after my hurt feelings while ignoring your own: it's still okay for you not to be okay with him."

Aurora was quiet, leaning against Jason's chest and resting her forehead in the space where his neck met his shoulder. He let her keep her thoughts to herself; she'd speak her mind when she was ready, Jason wouldn't to push her.

"I don't want to cause any problems between you and him." she eventually muttered, voice half-muffled against his chest.

Jason leant his cheek against her head, shrugging slightly: "You couldn't. Either Dick apologises to you too, or...well, he might as well have not apologised to me at all. We're a package deal, remember?"

He could feel her smile against his neck: "I remember."

"Good. Jason and Aurora, always."

"Always." Aurora nodded, finally pulling back a little - not completely out of his arms, but just enough to be able to look up at him: "You going to go find him?"

In spite of how much he wanted to speak to Dick, Jason shook his head: "He won't still be out - he can't risk being connected to this if Batsy sees it. He's gonna loose his shit over this."

"At least if he does, Dick's got somewhere to stay with us."

Jason appreciated that: appreciated the fact that, even still pissed at Dick as she was, she would welcome Dick into one of their safe houses. Maybe not the main den - _even Jason wasn't that far gone on Dick yet_ \- but somewhere they could shield him from Bruce's inevitable wrath.

If anyone outside his pack ever knew he was so soft...

It was a good thing Jason had learned enough from Bruce to maintain multiple facades. He could be the murderous Red Hood around the small number of men he had, or around Gotham's lowlives, and then just be Jason when he was around Aurora and his pack. And Dick. But not even Dick needed to know that, at least not how much Jason was willing to bend to make Dick happy, not yet anyway. Maybe not ever. Certainly not until Jason was sure it couldn't be used against Aurora or the pack.

Dick going no-contact, admittedly, had set that back a long way...but Jason was willing to try again. Dick had always believed that Jason deserved a second chance - _despite the fact that he wasn't ever interested on becoming a member of the Bat pack again_ \- so, if nothing else, Jason could extend the same courtesy. At least if Dick apologised for making Aurora feel like shit. Because even if she had been focused on the way he felt, Jason knew she had been upset by Dick ghosting her, and she had every right to be. Dick might not know how his actions had affected her, but Aurora had a real interest in Dick; she thought he was a truly kind person - all of this had shaken that belief. If nothing else, Jason would use this opportunity to tell Dick that.

Aurora deserved to have her feelings acknowledged.

Even if this nothing romantic ever worked out between the three of them...they could still be friends. And Aurora, for all her belief in being direct, was very unlikely to ever bring her feelings up, for fear or causing friction between Jason and Dick. Jason didn't want to let her suffer in silence.

He loved Dick...but, if he was being honest, he loved Aurora more. How could he not? She was his mate, his lover, best friend, and pack alpha. There was no doubt in his mind that he could grow to love Dick just as much - but he hadn't yet, and that made Aurora and her feelings his priority. Just as his often ended up being hers.

"Thank you, Aurora."

"There's nothing to thank me for." Aurora waved him off - but Jason wasn't willing to let it go that lightly.

Of course, he was raised as a pick-pocket and then a Bat...he knew when to be sneaky, and he was going to have to be to show Aurora how grateful he was: "I'm not letting it go that easily."

Aurora smirked, purple eyes flickering with amusement: "You never do. Want me to take the bike back for you? Bit conspicuous for the Red Hood."

"Unfortunately, that's true." Jason sighed: "As much as I want to try it out again..."

"There's always a night when you're not out on patrol. After a figure out a way to disguise it enough that Big Bats won't recognise it the second you leave the Bowery."

"This is why you're the smart one, Rory."

"Oh, Jayjay...it's not the only reason." Aurora winked, opening up a portal for her and the bike before Jason could respond.

He didn't mind.

He had plans to make, after all: plans to get Dick to understand that Aurora had been upset and how he could make it up to her - all that without triggering any warnings in the Bat pack's minds that he was trying to steal Dick away from them. In fairness, he wasn't opposed to the idea, but it wasn't his intention. And in light of that...his acknowledgement of Dick's apology, and their subsequent chat about Aurora, that would have to be subtle and well-thought out.

Not exactly his strong point: the subtle part. But with enough time...he could pull it off.

And he was looking forward to when he did.


	9. Arkham Breakout (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **The inmates of Arkham Asylum have decided to work together to make life difficult for Batman, so it's all hands on deck - including Void and the Outlaws. Part One.**

"He asked for us."

Aurora looked over from where she was watching the news with Harley to see Jason bracing himself against the doorway, looking just as grim as his tone had been. There was no need to ask who 'he' was; the news made everything all too clear.

The Batman had called Jason for help.

Because the Arkham inmates were, once again, running the asylum.

Why Gotham hadn't burned that place to the ground _(with or without certain green-haired inmates inside)_ decades ago was beyond Aurora. London never had this problem when she was growing up - no city did, because no city was insane enough to let an institution as corrupt and provably fallible as Arkham Asylum remain open, even on the edges of it's limits. No city except Gotham...and now once again, there had been a mass breakout. And as if the supervillains running around the city streets weren't enough trouble, some of the more technologically inclined villains had locked themselves in the Asylum grounds and hacked into the city's computer systems to cause havoc remotely. It was an excellent plan to ensure that Batman would be run ragged chasing them all down.

And apparently it was working. If Batman had called Jason for the Outlaw pack's help - criminals that they were - the situation had to be dire.

Of course, even though Aurora knew exactly how desperate the situation was, that didn't stop Jason's next words from shocking her: "All of us. Even Harley."

_Fuck_.

That was...horrifying.

Aurora and Jason trusted Harley with their lives...but the Bat pack wouldn't trust her as far as they could throw her. If they'd ask Jason to ask Harley for her assistance, then the whole shitshow must've been worse than Aurora thought. On top of that, it also meant that Aurora and Jason's plans for the security of their pack den were compromised to hell. Harley was their last line of defence in times like this: the member of their pack the Bat pack would never, ever ask for help, and so could stay in the den with the pups to make sure they stayed safe. Sure, the older kids were capable - _and most of them disturbingly willing_ \- but Harley was always meant to be around to lead them.

It had never crossed their mind that the den would be left without a protector. Bruce despised when he had to ask the Outlaws for help; he didn't approve of the way they worked, he was felt guilty as fuck about starting Jason off on the path to being who he was today, and he was too proud to want to ask anyone to help protect his city. If he was asking for them all, Aurora had no doubt that all of them were truly needed.

_Fuck didn't really begin to cover it._

"If Batsy's askin' for me..." Harley, poor Harley who had hung up the tights and been focusing on her badass motherfucker business with Cass, looked solemn: "...I probably shouldn't turn him down, should I?"

"You don't have to do shit that he asks of you." Jason responded immediately: "...But from what I got from him, it sounds bad out there."

Harley looked like she'd expected as much: "Best get to it then."

The three of them headed down to the armoury, grabbing Kori and Roy on the way and telling Jasmine, the oldest of the kids in the pack den, to heard all of them into the Vault. It was more pressure than Aurora would like to put on the nineteen year old's shoulders, but as the oldest omega in the pack she was the one the kids would listen to the most with the 'adults' gone.

Aurora took some comfort in the fact that she wouldn't be on her own; as soon as news of the breakout had gotten back to them - an hour before it hit the news - Jason and Aurora had called all members of the pack in, even the ones who usually slept at home. That included a few of the older kids who occasionally worked for Jason and the two girls Kori was mentoring as models. They were all over eighteen now, and they'd help Jasmine keeping the younger kids in line. 

The five of them suited up: Jason in his helmet, Kevlar, and combat boots, Harley in her slash-proof golden dungarees, Roy in his cowl and domino mask, and Aurora in her thigh-high boots and body-suit. Kori was the only one already in her long sleeve purple top and matching shorts; it being her night to be on patrol - and she was looking thoughtful.

"What's the plan?" she asked Aurora as Aurora was pulling her blond hair into a tight french plait: "I do not want to abandon the den. Or our part of the city."

Harley nodded: "Gotta be honest, doll face, but I feel the same. I don't mind goin' out, though I'm expectin' something real classy as a reward - "

Jason's lips twisted into a bitter smirk: "And something you'd like instead, too."

"Of course." Harley grinned: "But this part of the city is hours. I don't wanna leave it just because Batsy says Upper Gotham is more important."

Aurora understood the feeling - they all did, and none of them were going to abandon the part of the city to the criminal element that most vigilantes thought belonged here, because those vigilantes were wrong. And it was down to the Outlaws to prove that, while still lending support to the Bat pack.

It was a good thing the Bat hadn't requested all of them show up together.

Falling in the pack alpha position, since Jason too was looking at her in expectation, Aurora started handing out instructions: "Harley, stay close to the den. No more than a mile away, if you can help it. And call the Birds: see if they're in the area to lend us a hand. Roy, go where you're needed around the Bowery, with Kori as back-up as necessary. I need you to keep as much as an eye on the bridges as possible, see if we can stop them ever getting to us, as unlikely as that is."

"And you two?" Harley asked.

Aurora straightened her shoulders and started to mentally brace herself: "We'll go help the Bat."

Jason grunted unhappily, but nodded: "The usual troublemakers are already on tech support. They'll be watching the city's cameras and they'll be patched into our comm channel. Harley, the Birds are more than welcome to patch in too, if they want."

"I'll let them know. And Cass is with the tech support kids; she's got sharp eyes, and she wanted to help, but I weren't gonna take her out with us." Harley let the group know, to everyone's nods.

After that, there was nothing else to say. They made sure the kids were all secure _(and that anyone over the age of eighteen was armed, just in case)_ before they locked down the den and split up to go their separate ways: Kori flying away and carrying Roy with her, Harley jogging away, and Aurora opening a portal for her and Jason.

Aurora paused in the blackness between where they had been and where they were going to hug Jason, feeling his arms tighten around her in return. There were no words; they'd said everything they needed to in these situations, even if this was the most dire one in a while. They both knew the other loved them, that they agreed to work as safely as possible, and that they promised to come back to each other.

Saying those things now just felt like bad luck.

Instead, they tangled hands with each other, and stepped out onto the rooftop Batman had asked Jason to meet him on. They didn't have to wait long - the man touched down on the rooftop a second later, his usually expressionless face showing some signs of strain under the cowl. Nightwing was there just a few heartbeats after Batman, panting, with a black eye forming and bleeding from a thin cut on his cheekbone - Aurora was guessing from a flying shard of glass.

Despite the fact she was still...well, hurt over how quickly he had managed to cut Jason out of his life, even though she knew he didn't owe them anything, seeing him bleed - even just a little - made something inside her stomach twist. It could've been much worse, but part of her still wanted to cut the hands off of whoever had caused him to shed any blood, despite the fact it wasn't her place to do so.

She focused on talking to the Bat instead of tracking down who had hurt Dick: "Where do you need us?"

Batman didn't seem happy that it was her that spoke up and not Jason - but then was he ever happy? "Can you operate separately?"

"If needs be."

"Needs be." he informed her: "Hood, you're with Batgirl. Void, with Nightwing."

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but...she'd deal with it.

She could be a professional. The fact Dick had hurt her feelings was inconsequential compared to what was happening in Gotham right now, and she could ignore the part of her that wanted to protect him the same way she would Jason. Besides, it could have been worse...she could have been forced with work with Damian.

Jason squeezed her palm, a silent 'see you soon', before following Batman to Batgirl's location, and Aurora was left alone with Dick. Or, rather, Nightwing.

Now was not the time to be slipping up with names.

"I need a way into Arkham." Nightwing informed her: "There's only so much we can do in the city while the inmates are still running half of it from behind the asylum's security. Especially since they've bulked it up with their own."

"Who's waiting for us?"

Nightwing seemed taken-aback by her brusque tone...but, oh well. It was the best she could manage for him right now: "Big names? Riddler, Kyle Bolton: also known as Lock-Up, a genius at security systems, Anarky: a hacker turned vigilante, and the Electrocutioner Lester Buchinsky."

Aurora wanted to ask after the Joker's whereabouts, but even if Nightwing had them she doubted he'd tell her, so instead she focused on getting this mission over and all the lunatics locked up for the city's safety: "Anything else I should be aware of?"

"Hopefully not."

Good enough; Aurora would take what she could get, and if that was the extent of Nightwing's knowledge, then she was actually pretty impressed. Having any confirmed information in the current insanity was no easy feat.

She nodded her understanding, and opened up a portal to a quiet spot in a blind spot of Arkham's security _(which she knew of for reasons that mattered only to herself)_ so she and Nightwing could get going. It wasn't as simple as the quicker they started, the quicker they would finish, exactly, but more the quicker they started the less damage would have the chance to be done. But of course, before they really got into it...

Aurora could help herself. Even though her heart still hurt at Dick's sudden abscence - even if he was back now.

"Okay, so, a few things. One, stay close. If shit hits the fan, I can get us both out, but it'll be easier if you're nearby. The easier each portal is, the more times we can keep trying."

Nightwing nodded: "Okay."

"I'm on comms with Jason and the Outlaws, so I can't tune in to your comms. If we do get separated, make some noise, it'll make it easier for me to portal to you."

"Good to know. Anything else?" Nightwing rose to his feet, but was stopped by Aurora reaching out to grab his wrist gently.

"Do you need anything before we go in? Painkillers, water, a holiday?"

Despite his tired expression, Nightwing smiled, the expression strained but honest: "A chance to say sorry? I know I was a dick - no pun intended - for ditching you and Jay. I don't know what your equivalent to the bike is, but if you tell me, I'll make it happen, because I really am sorry, A."

Aurora...suddenly understood why Dick's apology to Jason had meant so much to Jason.

It was hard to stay angry when faced with genuine remorse: and Aurora had been raised to be petty - the never forgive, and never, ever forget kind of girl. Staying angry was exactly her kind of thing.

But faced with that level of tired honesty, the fact he'd brought it up even when he should've been focused on the Bat's orders...

"Just watch my back tonight, 'Wing, and I'll consider all forgiven."

Nightwing didn't seem pleased by her response, but she could see the relief in the relaxing of his shoulders: "I won't. But it's a start."

Aurora didn't argue with him; it really wasn't the time. And if Dick had something to prove to her...well, Aurora wasn't a good woman. If she had something to keep Dick coming around, she'd use it, until he didn't want to come around anymore.

She wasn't good, but she wasn't that kind of woman. It was separated her from a lot of the inmates at Arkham; the knowledge of when to and how to stop. She opened a portal to just inside a back door that led into a hallway between the kitchen and cafeteria and, the last time Aurora had checked, was a CCTV blind-spot. It was possible that that Bolton bloke or Anarky kid had fixed that blind spot, but Aurora couldn't think of anywhere better to go, since she didn't have any other confirmed locks for her portals in Arkham, except for one...but that cell wasn't going to do them any good, as heavily survived and empty as it was.

There were no immediate alarms when she and Nightwing stepped through the portal, so Aurora took that as a good sign. Still, there was no good that would come from pushing her luck, so after studying the angle of the CCTV cameras, she opened another portal to the next blind spot, at the other end of the hallway.

Nightwing muttered something out her ability being ' _handy_ '...but he had no idea. She'd been a wonderful bank robber at one point: and now that practice was coming in handy, the short-distance portalling almost as easy as walking up a flight of stairs. She could keep it up forever, but she'd be alright for a long while yet.

Handy indeed, since CCTV blind-spots only meant the psychos in the control room didn't see them: they didn't mean she and Nightwing went totally unseen. They made it up three of the asylum's seven floors before they ran into anyone, but when they did...well, they almost ran into them literally; Aurora turning round to face some beefy guy's rather unattractive chest tats. Really, they were so mad she almost missed the fact he had a rough _(probably cell-made)_ bayonet instead of a hand.

Almost, but not quite.

Nightwing froze, the sudden scent of terror rolling off him between one second and the next, but Aurora didn't have time to react to his fear. She was already moving: ducking under the bayonet stab, coming up even closer than she had been and bringing her knee up into Bad Tats' groin. He groaned, ducking his head and bowing his knees in reaction to the pain. Aurora used that position, using his knee for a step and his shoulder for a grip as she swung her other leg around his neck: wrapping with her thighs around his neck in a few seconds. A position that left her hands free to grab the wrist of the bayonet hand when it swung at her, and snap the wrist before ripping the bayonet modification away.

Tightening her choke hold incrementally, Aurora kept the bayonet in hand until she felt Bad Tats start to falter on his feet. Nightwing was watching them warily, the smell of terror long gone, waiting for Aurora to bring Bad Tats to his knees before gesturing at one of the empty cells on this level.

Aurora nodded, waiting for Bad Tats to slump forwards before she released the choke hold and dragging him towards the cell Nightwing had indicated.

Once he was in, she then used the bayonet to stab him in the back of the knee: making sure to sever the ACL, before doing the exact same thing to the other knee. It wasn't fatal, but it would be painful as fuck, and would stop Bat Tats from coming after them.

Nightwing not approve, but he couldn't deny it wasn't a good idea. And thinking of those...

Aurora tapped the activate button on the side of her neck for her comm mic: "Tech support? Tell me you guys have a way into Arkham's systems?"

_**"For, like, ages. Duh."**_ Tommy's bored sounding voice responded...although Aurora knew full well the youngest member of the tech team was using 'boredom' to mask his worry: _**"What you you need?"**_

"A little less sass, for a start. I'm not scared to portal over there. Can you loop the footage over mine and Nightwing's location?"

_**"If you stop portalling, no problem. If you're gonna portal, just let me know where."** _

"Brilliant, T. Can I also ask who's still in their cells?"

**_"No-one, except some guy bleeding from the knees?"_ **

_**"Your handiwork, Rory?"**_ Freya chipped in from somewhere is in the tech team's room - before sighing heavily: _**"No, Hood, she hasn't killed anyone yet.**_ **She's** _ **sticking to her partner's no killing rule."**_

"Tell Jayjay I said 'hi'." Aurora smirked, motioning Nightwing forward before cautiously setting off down the corridor herself: "Lock bleeding man in that cell, would you? And anyone else I chuck in one."

**_"Affirmative, Void. I'll keep an eye on the situation."_** Tommy agreed: _**"And you can portal over here anytime you like. I ain't scared of you, old lady."**_

Aurora laughed softly, before disengaging her mic.

Nightwing looked curious - something she didn't blame him for - but didn't ask any questions she couldn't answer. He accepted it when she told him they could carry on without portalling for a little while, and after that they continued on. It wasn't as uncomfortable as Aurora had thought it might be; working with Nightwing was actually pretty easy: there was no tension in the air, no feeling the need to watch her back like she thought she'd feel working with a Bat, and Nightwing wasn't the brooding presence as his father figure.

Hence why she felt comfortable asking: "So, what was your deal with that guy?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were literally petrified there for a second." Aurora shrugged, phrasing it casually enough that - hopefully - Nightwing wouldn't feel judged: "And I could smell the brief moment of terror."

Nightwing looked uncomfortable for a second, but before Aurora could tell him not to worry, he shrugged in an effort to look unbothered: "That was Anatoli Knyazev. He shot me in the head once - cost me a year of my life to amnesia."

"Shit, that's rough." Aurora commiserated: "Want me to go do the same to him?"

"...I can totally see why Red Hood loves you." Nightwing smirked: "He would absolutely say the same thing. But, no thanks. He's in Arkham, and I think that might actually be a fate worse than death for him. He was always very...particular. This place must be fucking with him no end."

Aurora laughed - Nightwing really was the best Bat to work with. He might be one of the good guys, but that didn't stop him from being petty as fuck. It made him so much easier to get along with than the holier-than-thou members of the Bat pack who would rather have their tongue cut out than admit to any form of short-coming.

She was happy to be working with him tonight. And from the look of things...he was happy to be working with her, too. Aurora didn't either of them would do so far as to say tonight was a good night (no sane person would, considering the circumstances) but she was pretty sure they would agree that it wasn't as bad as it could've been. And Aurora was pretty sure that that was all they ask for right now.

Well, that an not having to deal with any of the Riddler's insane traps.

But as they rounded exited the stairwell and saw the corridor before them, Aurora knew that, unfortunately, there was no way they were going to get that lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would I be so mean as to leave you all on a cliff hanger? As it turns out, yes.
> 
> I didn't mean for this to be this long, but I'm really enjoying writing it, and it's already way too long to be one chapter, so I'm going to post this and continue writing the next part. Hopefully I'll have it done soon!


	10. Arkham Breakout (Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **The inmates of Arkham Asylum have decided to work together to make life difficult for Batman, so it's all hands on deck - including Void and the Outlaws. Part Two.**

After studying the Riddler's trap, Aurora was left pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing.

It was the usual bullshit: the black tiles of the chequed floors raised, indicating that they'd been turned into pressure plates: pressure plates spray-painted with various symbols that Aurora was guessing where the answers to the riddles spray-painted on the walls. And as to why they would need to stand on the pressure plates? Just to turn off the fucking lasers they'd rigged to come out of the fucking walls.

Fucking Riddler.

Fucking bullshit traps.

Fucking lasers.

Aurora hated when villains went with bullshit like this. Melodrama like this wasn't her idea of villainy, not thanks to the way she'd been raised: where crimes were either subtle enough to go undetected or brutal enough to deter interference. Normally, she'd portal right past it, but this time there was no way of knowing what she'd be portalling into. Possibly more lasers, knowing Nygma.

"So, we need to stand on the pressure plates in order to turn off the lasers and make it to the door." Aurora surmised, and Nightwing nodded, looking just as unhappy as Aurora felt:

"And the plates we need to step on are the ones with symbols that answer the riddles on the wall."

Aurora sighed: "I know Nygma has a pathological need to prove how smart he is...but why does he never know it's smartest just to not do this shite?"

Nightwing raised an eyebrow: "Is that what you did the last time you met him?"

"Well, no. I just punched him and took my stuff back." Aurora shrugged: "But still."

Nightwing laughed, but didn't comment. Aurora didn't pretend not be grateful about that - her 'stuff' in that case has been Vivi's favourite doll, and she couldn't really explain that to him. Instead they focused on the riddles spray painted on the wall.

They appeared easy at first. _Too_ easy.

So, of course, it wasn't as simple as just stepping on the right pressure plate.

As soon as you stepped onto the next pressure plate, the lasers behind you switched back on - and Aurora didn't dare test what would happen if two pressure plates were activated at once. An alarm, Nightwing getting skewered by lasers, the whole room getting set on fire: who knew what would happen? It wasn't worth the risk when Nightwing could get to the other side, pick the lock, and let her portal through to the other side.

It was frustrating, shouting back and forth and not being able to actually move from her spot at the end of the hallway, but Aurora gritted her teeth and waited.

Nightwing opened the door at the other end of the hallway, allowing Aurora to see a safe spot she could portal to. Safe being a relative term, or course, which pretty much just meant that there was no lasers coming out of the walls. But there was an inmate, charging towards them at top speed.

This time Nightwing didn't hesitate: he went high while Aurora went low, with Aurora kicking his ankles out - hearing bones snap was never pleasant, but she was pleased to know the guy would be staying down - as Nightwing swung an Escrima stick at his neck. The inmate jolted as the taser in Nightwing's Escrima stick activated, before dropping to the floor: out cold. They dragged him into the nearest cell, before carrying on their way in another comfortable silence, breaking it only to communicate their way past the next of Riddler's traps - a 'maze' of glass walls that looked even easier than the pressure plates: which probably meant it was even worse, theory that was backed up by the slits and vents in the ceiling that looked like something would drop out of them at the first misstep.

Fortunately, Aurora had space to portal past this trap, but it ended up with her back plastered against Nightwing's front while she picked the lock into the stairwell. She didn't pretend not to notice that he smelled good - like coffee and something sugary, under the hint of sweat and blood - but it didn't really feel like an appropriate thing to be focusing on when they were just one flight of stairs and two corridors away from the villains' control centre. They had to stop Anarky and Lock-Up, They were still causing havoc in the city; Aurora had heard the tech team swearing as they tried to keep them out of the hospital's systems, and that was the tip of the iceberg.

Of course, to get there, they were going to have to get past the first line of defence.

Lester Buchinsky.

_The Electrocutioner._

Aurora knew she couldn't exactly speak about unimaginative names...but at least she had the defence of being fucking thirteen when she'd come up with hers. Buchinsky had been a full-grown adult, he should've done better.

Just as he should've been more subtle.

The lights of the hallway flickered, and manic laughter filled the air, before Buchinsky stepped out of one of the side offices.

His time in Arkham clearly hadn't done much for his sanity. Aurora had seen the look in his eyes in many people - _some she had called friends not out of affection but necessity to keep herself in their good books_ \- and it was not a sane look. It was fucking crazy: not Harley's fun-loving brand of crazy, but the kind that Aurora was used to seeing in the eyes of people about to glass someone for no reason. Given that Buchinsky didn't have to shatter a bottle or pint glass to be dangerous, and Aurora was in rush to tackle the man. Or, she wasn't, until his nostrils flared and his eyes fixed on Nightwing.

"Aw, you brought me a chew toy. Knew you an' Hood weren't all bad."

Nightwing bristled, but Aurora was already drawing from the hidden holsters in 'Jason's' black leather jacket: "Keep Hood's name out of your mouth, arsehole. We don't even know who you are - I ain't bringing you fuck all."

The first shot went through Buchinsky's shoulder, cutting him off before he could reply to her. The second hit his knee, and by that point Aurora was on him: She slashed the tendons in the elbow and wrist of one arm and, when he tried to push her away with his good arm, give it the same treatment.

With the threat of electrocution minimised, she grabbed him by the back of the neck, and bounced his head off of the wall, catching him when he rebounded and using the momentum to bounce him off the other wall. It was probably a little more violent than her Bat-sanctioned partner liked her being, but...she wasn't a Bat. She was an Outlaw, and the Outlaw pack had very simple rules when it came to talking to omegas you didn't know. Not calling them 'chew toys' was pretty near the top. Buchinsky would need to know that if he ever wanted to step foot in the East End or the rest of their territory again. Aurora heard he had once thought of it as his neck of the woods.

_Not anymore, arsehole._

"One trap left." Nightwing informed her, seeming happy to gloss over her treatment of Buchinsky: "It seems like a talking lock."

Aurora...genuinely could not believe this shit: because _seriously?_ : "A talking lock?"

Nightwing looked equally unimpressed: "Afraid so."

"You know what?" she asked tiredly: "I cannot be fucking asked."

The lock - or, more accurately, Aurora supposed, the door handle - started to ask it's riddle again, something about longitude and latitude, but she was already pulling one of the tech team's sticky bombs out of one of the jacket pockets. It was a tiny amount of explosive that stuck to any surface as soon as it was out of it's metal casing. Once the casing was open, it's user had seven seconds to throw it at the target before it reacted with the air and exploded.

Aurora had never been happier to see a lock blown up in her life.

_**"The answer was Arkham."**_ Tommy snarked quietly over the comms, but Aurora just flipped off the nearest camera.

Nightwing, apparently, was doing the same, before he turned to Aurora with an exhausted smile of his own: "Did you just get told the answer too?"

"Yup. No respect, these people."

Nightwing laughed, before he kicked in the door, just as Aurora opened two portals.

The blackness ate the bullets going through the first one, while the second allowed Nightwing and Aurora to step out behind the shooters completely unscathed.

Kyle Bolton didn't take much more than a stern look and Aurora pulling out the handgun from her jacket to subdue: and a second later he was portalled into his own cell. Anarky was took a little more involvement; he reached for his own weapon, but despite what he thought of himself as a vigilante, Aurora had seen civilians with better reflexes. His gun through fell through a portal and right into Aurora's hand, just as she stepped close enough to Anarky to smack him round the head with it. He, too, was portalled back to his cell _(albeit unconscious)_ , leaving just the Riddler for her and Nightwing to deal with. But the Riddler...the Riddler was a whole different ball game. The fucking arsehole.

Aurora was more than happy to let Nightwing take the lead on this one. She'd knocked Nygma out before, when he'd gotten a little too close to a safehouse that had had a sick Blue in, not to mention the incident of defending Vivi's doll, but she'd never fought him. Certainly not the way Nightwing had, back when he was Robin.

Nightwing went high: but Nygma was expecting that, and threw something right when Nightwing was committed to the action, unable to dodge. Aurora had no fucking clue what it was, but she opened a portal for it all the same, closing that portal a split second before Nightwing sailed past where whatever it had been would've hit him: smirking at Nygma just before his boots did hit the villain - right in the face.

Wanting to capitalise on the moment, and distract Riddler while Nightwing was righting himself, Aurora portalled over to where Nygma had stumbled back from Nightwing so that she could grab his wrist and twist until she heard something snap. She portalled away in the next heartbeat, but the way he twisted to follow her allowed Nightwing to swing his escrima sticks right into Nygma's ribs.

Nygma stumbled away once again, likely blinded by pain, allowing Aurora to once again portal right next to him. This time she kicked at the side of his knee, breaking it and sending him falling onto his good knee and giving her the opportunity to slam a short knife into his shoulder. Her aim wasn't as accurate as she would've liked - he was squirming! - but she knew she was close enough that Nygma wouldn't be moving that arm any time soon without being in excruciating pain.

"Give it up, Nygma." Nightwing demanded: "It's over. Batman and Red Hood are gaining control of the city, Void and I are here in your control room, and the amount of your allies that are stll free is decreasing rapidly. You're done."

Sneering, Nygma only leered at Nightwing: "Pretty Nightwing...you think a stupid, unimaginative Bat is going to stop me? That a pathetically emotional and short-sighted omega such as yourself is on a level with an alpha like me? You'd have more luck turning round and bending over - "

Aurora snapped. She was tired, and every insult she heard levelled at Dick only reminded her of what awaited the omega kids of the pack if alphas like the Riddler were aloud to run their mouths. Grabbing Nygma's jaw, she dug her fingers in until she had had a solid grip on the lower half of the cunt's face: "Finish that thought, and I'll rip your fucking jaw off."

Nygma whimpered.

"Yeah, you ain't so brave when you're face to face with another alpha are you, you dumbfuck?" Aurora sneered: "You should wise up. Because it ain't me who's a threat to you. It's the _'pathetically emotional omega'_ over there."

Confused, Nygma frowned as Aurora turned his face away from her...right into the sole of Dick's boot.

His nose crunched, but luckily for him he was unconscious before the way he fell face-first onto the floor would've probably made the pain flare up. Aurora portalled him back to a cell, hearing Tommy confirm that all the villains that had been roaming Arkham and it's grounds were now locked up again, thanks to Aurora and Dick's efforts, and some clever trickery on Will's part. Aurora was certain she was going to have to buy the tech team some pretty fucking impressive presents for this. Eventually. When she'd slept for, like...three years.

Lost in thought, Aurora suddenly had an arm full of shaking omega as Dick crashed into her with a bone-crushing hug. She tensed for a second, surprised by the sudden contact, but overcame it quick enough to wrap both arms around Dick's shoulders and pull him close to her before he could get self-conscious and pull away.

Dick seemed more than happy to be held; he buried his face against her neck,

Dick pulled in a few shuddering breaths, before pulling back just enough: "Thanks. For letting me kick him in the face."

"Literally no problem. It seemed like he needed it."

Dick hummed in agreement: "He wasn't the only one."

Aurora paused...and then turned off her comm.

What she had to say didn't need to be overheard.

"Look, pretty boy, I know we've not exactly been on the best of terms recently..you don't ever need to thank me for standing up to you when some dumb cunt tries to deride you for being an omega. Never, okay? You're fucking Nightwing, you're worth a hundred of anyone like them." Aurora said, hoping Dick would hear her sincerity: "I know you don't need the help, and I don't ever want to overstep and make you think I don't think you're capable, because you fucking are, but if you want someone to line some bigoted prick's face up so you can kick his nose into non-existence? I'm your girl."

"I'll remember that." Dick smiled: "You and Jason...you never make me feel like I'm not capable."

Aurora squeezed his shoulders: "And if we ever do, you can kick out arses back into line. But if you need anything, from a trip to Hawaii or just bitch about some wanker..."

"I'll come to you two. I'd..." Dick blushed faintly: "I'd really like that. Hawaii might be a bit much at the moment...but maybe we could have tea some time?"

"Only if we go out." Aurora teased: "I've heard stories about you in the kitchen, 'Wing, and they weren't complimentary."

Dick groaned, begging for Aurora to just portal him back to his apartment so he could hide under his covers, groaning louder when Aurora laughed at his response.

With Arkham under control, Aurora portalled them both back to the rooftop they had started from tonight, to find the city significantly quieter and Batgirl trying to field-patch a wound on Red Robin's leg. Badly - although in defence of Batgirl, it seemed it was because she appeared to have used up all her medical supplies on his other injuries. Medical supplies exactly like the other ones Aurora had in her jacket.

She'd be a bitch not to share.

And if she ended up patching up Red Robin, Dick, and Batgirl in the time it took Red Hood to make it back to the rooftop? Well, that was just because she liked Dick, and she had time to treat the others, even if it was done in tense silence the whole time. She and Jason left as soon as they physically could, telling the Bats they were done and disappearing back to a safe house to shed dirty (ad bloody) costumes before they went back to the warehouse.

Hugs were exchanged with all the kids coming up from the Vault, as well as with Kori, Roy, and Harley, before it was decided it had been a long night and they could debrief tomorrow. After showers, sleep, and food: in that order.

"So," Jason asked once they were in the shower, his arms wrapped around her waist and holding her close as they stood under the stream of water: "What did you say to Dick while your comms were off?"

"That he could come to us for anything, if he wanted." Aurora responded honestly, knowing she had nothing to hide when her and Jason wanted exactly the same thing from Dick.

Whatever he was willing to give them.

Jason hummed noncommittally, but Aurora could hear the interest in his tone: "And what did he say?"

"He said he'd like to go to tea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I might be taking a little break from this. It started off as really fun, and it kind of still is, but being stuck at home is really stating to ware on me, leaving me feeling a bit down. Because of this, updates on Life Is A Circus will probably be fewer and further between for a bit. Thank you all for understanding, hopefully I'll be back on track soon!


	11. Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Dick takes Aurora up on her previous offer of tea with her and Jason - and their current offer of much needed medical aid.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this chapter took a _long_ time. I've not been doing too well, and I'm still not I guess, but I wanted to get this out all the same, even if there are some mistakes in it. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but hopefully it won't take as long this time. In any case, I hope people enjoyed it!

Date Night was one Jason's favourite nights of the month.

It meant no patrol, no kid duty, and him and Aurora having each other all to themselves in one of their safe houses. Sometimes they went out for dinner and a movie, sometimes they stayed in and drank wine and ate popcorn while watching bad reality tv, sometimes they just ate a home-cooked meal and passed out on the mattress that passed as the safe house's bed.

Tonight, though, Jason had been shoved down onto the sofa so Aurora could straddle his lap while they made out like teenagers. Jason couldn't be happier.

Well...that was a lie. Aurora pulled back to yank her t-shirt over her head, revealing a crimson satin bra decorated with black lace. She was wearing his colours.

_Now_ he couldn't be happier.

Pulling her back do him, Jason started to kiss down her neck as he ran his hands down her back...only to get distracted by a knock on the door before he could get any lower. He growled against Aurora's neck, but they both knew they were too paranoid to just ignore it. Aurora pulled her t-shirt back on while Jason grabbed one of the pistols hidden under the couch before they both made their way over to the door.

There was another knock, this one fainter than the last, and it wasn't hard to work out the reason why. Jason could smell the blood on the other side of the door, and he hadn't even opened it yet. He shared a look with Aurora, silently agreeing to be on their guard, before Aurora slowly opened the door.

The iron-heavy smell of blood hit Jason like a tidal wave - but it was the second scent that made him worry. Aurora, too, threw all caution to the wind when she smelt who's blood it was: throwing the door open and catching Dick before he fell through the doorway. Blood was soaking through his uniform, his hands coated in it from where he had tried to apply pressure to his wound, and there was blood on his face and his hair, presumably from where he'd tried to push the sweat-soaked locks out of his eyes.

"Dickiebird?" Jason asked, kicking the door shut as Aurora carried Dick over to the couch: "What happened?"

"Ivy. New pollen. Made me dizzy and confused...now making me bleed more."

The explanation didn't exactly make complete sense...but Jason understood enough. He was under the influence of some new concoction of Ivy's, and it was acting as an anti-coagulant. No matter how serious the wound was, it needed to be closed, as quick as they safely could.

Aurora shoved the bathroom door open and started rummaging through their first aid kit as Jason lifted Dick up onto the counter. By now Dick was looking truly out of it - not to even think about the sickly pallor to his skin, a pallor that just stitching him up wasn't going to fix...

Jason didn't think about that, though. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it, and for now the bridge he needed to worry about was getting Dick out of his suit without activating any of the traps that were supposed to go off if the suit was tampered with. He was lucky the Bats hadn't deviated all that much from the tech they'd been using when he was one of them: it might be more advanced than he remembered, but everything was exactly in the same place as it used to be, and he stripped the costume off of Dick's torso with ease. Aurora was there a second later, swiping a peroxide-soaked cloth over the bloodiest areas to reveal Dick's injuries.

They were numerous.

Whatever had gotten to him, it looked like it had had a field day. A lot of the wounds were superficial - though still bleeding a lot faster than they should've been - but some of them would've been dangerous even without the anti-coagulant in Dick's system.

Jason did his best to put pressure on those wounds while Aurora started carefully disinfecting them and stitching them up before pressing dressings to them. Silence stretched between them as they worked over Dick's body: from the terrifying puncture wound just under his collar bone to the nicks evenly inter-spaced around his ankle, as if something with thorns had tried to trap him. Probably some horrifically muted plant, knowing Ivy.

It took them almost an hour, and both of their shirts were soaked with blood by the end of it, but eventually they had Dick all stitched and bandaged up. Aurora had lines of strain bracketing her mouth, and Jason was sure he had some to match, but they weren't done yet.

"We need to get him somewhere safe." Jason announced: "Somewhere he can get a blood transfusion."

"Doc Thompkins' practice?"

Jason shook his head: "She doesn't keep blood on hand. Can't store it properly. She'd only send him to a hospital."

Aurora sighed: "Shit. What about the Bats? I'm guessing if he wanted to go to them, he would've?"

"Most likely. They've got safe-houses all over, and he could've called Oracle to get one of them over to one of them with medical supplies and a transfusion kit."

"Shit."

_Shit barely covers it._

The only other place they could take Dick to get a proper transfusion?

The den.

And Jason could put into words just exactly how much he was against that idea. No matter how much his alpha hind-brain was roaring in satisfaction at getting to take it's desired omega back to it's den to provide, all of the more rational parts of Jason understood where Dick's loyalties lied, even if he was currently in the middle of an argument with Bruce and the other Bats. As flattering as it was Dick had come to them for help, that he trusted them enough to risk being vulnerable around them, it didn't mean they could trust him with the location of their den. With the amount of GPS and trackers built into the suit (and possibly under his skin, knowing Bruce) even portalling him in and out carried significant risk.

...But Jason couldn't think of anywhere else. And he knew Aurora couldn't either, otherwise she would've already suggested them. The den was their only option that didn't involve handing him over to the Bats, which came with a long list of it's own problems: not least the fact they were unlikely to be able to convince them it wasn't Jason and Aurora who had left Dick in this state.

So, yeah, 'shit' barely covered their situation, and they both knew it.

"The suit's beyond hope." Aurora reasoned: "We can leave it here. It lowers the chance of anyone tracking him to the den."

"We can portal him straight in the third floor room," Jason nodded, referencing the room they ended up laid up in if they ever got seriously hurt, away from the kids' eyes: "And straight out once he's well enough. He doesn't have to see anyone."

Aurora sighed: "It's not like we can leave him here. Or take him to the Bats."

"Or leave him to his own devices in his apartment. He...might not make it."

"And then we'd never hear the end of it." the words might seem uncaring to anyone who didn't know Aurora, but Jason did know her, and he knew she was just trying to talk herself out of all the reasons that this was a dangerous plan.

After all, he was doing the dame thing: "Never. Besides, he's the same blood type as Roy, so we've already got what he needs on hand. It'll be a quick visit."

"Better stop wasting time, then." Aurora said, resigned to their dangerous plan, and opening a portal into the third floor room: "Let's go."

They carefully manoeuvred Dick onto the bed, Aurora gathering the supplies for a transfusion while Jason let Kori know they were back early from Date Night - and with a guest.

Kori appeared two minutes later, Harley in tow, the two of them taking one look at Dick and gasping. He really didn't look good, with all the bandages and bruising, unhealthy pallor, and shallow breathing - he looked bad enough that neither of them even asked questions, rushing to wash their hands in the en-suite's sink before coming back to help Aurora with the transfusion.

Knowing the girls had it, Jason went to shower the blood off of himself and change his clothes before talking to the older kids.

He knew they would be able to smell the strange omega in the house, and some of the oldest might even be able to pick up on the smell of blood, and he needed to warn them off going to visit Dick: for their own safety. Dick would never directly hurt the kids, but he might tell Bruce about them, and Bruce's high-handed decisions could undo years of progress the kids had made in a stable pack environment, and Jason couldn't allow that to happen. There would be no more kids sent to so called 'care-homes' that turned out to be crime factories. No more cases like his, no matter what it took. No matter who found out how big the Outlaws pack actually was.

Jason hoped he wouldn't have to test that.

But only time would tell.

An hour passed in tense quiet, the kids sensing that something was wrong and settling around Jason. He had Vivi leaning against his side, reading one of her kids books, occasionally looking up at him silently and pointing at a word she didn't know, and Freya sitting cross-legged next to him, either texting her school friends or orchestrating the downfall of someone's IT system, Jason wasn't sure. It was hard too tell with Freya: she hacked computers like Jason did target practice: like it was an every-day hobby. At least it was a lot more productive that Jason's habits: and a lot less dangerous than Cass's pick-pocketing. But even she was sitting still right now, watching the door Harley had just disappeared through with an armful of blankets, looking worried.

_Enough is enough, I need to find out how Dick's doing._

On a mission now, and feeling a little more grounded because of it, Jason got up to follow Harley up to Dick's room....only to be stopped by finding Blue following _him_ out the door: "Is it Mr Grayson?"

"You know it's Dick?" Jason asked, shocked enough that he forgot to even try to keep his cards close to his chest, before the surprise turned into suspicion: "How do you know Mr Grayson?"

Blue shrugged: "He was in the hallway when I went to Gotham Academy. He seemed really nice, even though he was sad."

Jason supposed that did sum Dick up pretty well, especially when kids were involved: "It is Mr Grayson. He had a bit of an accident, so Aurora and I brought him back here to be looked after, but we have to keep it a secret, okay?"

"Okay." Blue nodded. Jason expected more questions, but Blue simply turned around and walked back into the main communal space of the den.

Jason decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Blue was a smart kid - and more than that, she was squirrelly as hell. It had once taken Jason an hour to find out how her day was, and she hadn't even been trying to avoid answering. He'd told her that Dick being here needed to be kept secret, and so he was pretty sure that she'd take it to her grave, even if Dick himself asked her. He didn't have to worry about about her saying something she shouldn't...all he had to worry about right now was Dick.

Kori's expression, once he got upstairs, was a little reassuring. If nothing else, the Tamaranean didn't bother to hide her moods; if Dick wasn't doing well, Jason would be able to see it on Kori's face. As she wasn't looking too grim, Jason could only guess Dick was doing okay.

His guess was proved right when he walked into Dick's room to find him conscious and aware, despite the unhealthy pallor of his usually tanned skin. It was clear that he was still recovering, but he was well enough to be watching Harley suspiciously as she cleared up after the transfusion, and that was good enough to convince Jason that the Boy Wonder was about to pull one of his miraculous recoveries.

"Feeling better, Dickhead?"

"Jason!" Dick crowed, switching focus to Jason and hitting him with a wide smile and a wave of happy pheromones.

Jason almost took a step back - the Bat had taught them all a trick to avoid the worst of the pheromone thing - but a look to Harley had her rolling her eyes and smirking: "He's so high right now."

Dick giggled: "Like a bird. Like a _robin_!" he exclaimed, like the thought had just occurred to him, and was the most profound thing _ever_.

Jason could sense that this could be a long few hours.

Still, if he was being honest, he didn't mind dealing with a drugged-up Dick; he was just happy to see the older man awake and happy, so he pulled up a chair to Dick's bedside and smirked: "Yeah, Dickiebird, just like a robin."

"Like you, Jay - you're a Robin! And me! I'm Robin!" Dick giggled, just as the door opened for Aurora to slide in: "Aurora! You need to be a Robin too!"

Aurora, understandably: "I do? Damn, I don't know if scaly green knickers are gonna look any good on me..."

Dick gasped: "But you have the best legs!"

"Really, Dick?" Jason asked - not because he was jealous of Dick looking at Aurora's legs _(because if Jason and Aurora got their way, he'd eventually be doing a lot more than looking)_ but because there was no way Dick would be saying that if he wasn't high. And he was going to so embarrassed when Jason laughed at him over it tomorrow.

Still, Dick wasn't going to be deterred by Jason's _(admittedly half-hearted)_ warning: "They're so long and I like the way you muscles move, like the time I came to your safe-house, and you were wearing those boxers..."

Jason remembered the boxers.

They were old, baggy, and he was pretty sure one of the legs was stained by red wine - there was absolutely nothing sexy about them, but to hear Dick talk about them, Jason would've thought he was thinking about the sheerest, skimpiest, designed-to-be-sexy 'boxers' known to man. You had to give it to him: he knew how to make someone feel special about what they were wearing.

Although Aurora was looking closer to laughing than feeling complimented, because she clearly knew Dick was out of his mind and wasn't taking him seriously. Which was fair, but Jason was absolutely going to tell her that her legs were amazing once they were on their own.

Until then...he still had a blissed-out Dick to watch and laugh at.

"...and I bet you could kick someone's face off if you didn't let me do it first." Dick finished his praise of Aurora's legs, making her chuckle kindly.

"Thanks, pretty boy, but I think I'll give you first refusal of kicking people's faces off." she smiled: "You did do a very good job on Riddler's, after all."

Dick looked smug: "Arkham had to get a dentist in to fix all his teeth. I kicked them all out."

"So proud of you," Jason grinned: "want to tell us what else you've been getting up to recently?"

"Oh, oh, oh! Yeah, so last week..."

Dick went off on an epic tale of how he'd had to go undercover at a club to try and get information on a rumoured new drug that one of Gotham's many wannabe-crime-lords were trying on people, and how he'd gotten pulled into a wet t-shirt competition _(because of course he did)_ to maintain his cover. He even told them the name of the club, so that they could look up the pictures of the night as proof - and there he was, in a ice blue crop top that was plastered against his skin from all the suspiciously glittery 'water'. Jason wasted no time in saving them to his phone, to send to Dick later, even as Aurora praised him for winning that competition.

Of course, there were more conversations about Dick's recent escapades, both as a vigilante and as a cop in Blüdhaven, ranging from some of Penguin's goons complimenting his backside - _"they were so polite about it, Jason!"_ \- and how that had made Bruce very, very uncomfortable, to the new brand of cereal he'd found, to how he'd ended up under a table in his precinct because there was an alpha at his work who apparently hadn't got the hint that Dick wasn't interested.

Jason and Aurora shared a look at that - _because no alpha should be harassing anyone, but especially an omega, to the point of that person having to hide under a desk at work_ \- but they let it go so they could pay Dick the proper attention he deserved. They'd talk to Dick about it when he wasn't high: as much as Jason wanted to help, and knew Aurora would too, but neither wanted to overstep any of Dick's boundaries. Help didn't have to be going to kick that alpha's ass, although Jason was totally down for that, it could just offering to act as a sounding board if he wanted to rant, but Jason wanted to do something to help. It was alpha bullshit, as Dick was sure to point out, but...well, Jason couldn't exactly help it.

For now, though, Dick would be helped most by the pair of them keeping him busy and his mind off of the various injuries he'd acquired.

Even if keeping him busy meant watching him suddenly go silent out start pouting:

"I'm cold!" he suddenly declared: "This room is freezing - you guys must be cold too."

The room wasn't that cold, and they weren't, but that didn't stop Jason from starting to get up: "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Dickie. I'll turn the heating up."

"No!" Dick demanded, his tone surprising Jason into dropping back into his seat: "I don't want you to turn the heating up."

"But you said you were cold?" Aurora asked gently, clearly as uncomprehending as Jason was as to why Dick, who was cold, didn't want them to turn the heating up for him.

"I am." Dick nodded: "But I don't want you to turn the heating up."

Both Jason and Aurora waited for him to continue...but of course, he didn't, leaving Jason to ask: "Why don't you want us to turn the heating up, Dickie?"

"Because then I would get too hot when you two got into bed with me?"

Oh.

_Oh_.

Fortunately, Aurora was a lot quicker on the uptake than Jason was, and was already speaking by the time Jason realised that Dick had just invited them into bed with him: "Dick, pretty boy, we didn't know we were meant to be getting into bed with you."

Dick suddenly teared up: "Do you guys not want to sleep with me?"

"No, no, honey." Aurora rushed to placate him, gently reaching out to smooth hair back off of Dick's face: "We just want to make sure you want us to get in bed with you."

Switching back to happy quick enough to give Jason whiplash, Dick grinned: "Aw, you guys are so considerate! That's why I want to sleep in the same bed as you guys; it was really nice when we slept on the floor last time, I bet it's even better in a bed!"

Jason couldn't argue with that - beds were nicer than floors, no doubt about it - but that didn't stop him from want to triple-check that Dick was okay: "If you want the mattress to yourself at any point, Dick, you can just tell us, okay?"

"Aw," Dick cooed, reaching out to cup Jason's cheek: "So caring. Get in."

Careful of his injuries, Jason kicked off his boots and slid off his jacket before gingerly sliding into bed next to Dick. Dick rolled over to press his back against Jason's chest, sighing happily as Aurora appeared in front of him and let him bury his face in the space where her neck met her shoulder. Another wave of pheromones crashed over Jason, but this time they were the content kind, the kind that signified a comfortable and relaxed omega. The smell was enough to make Jason's alpha purr, and make him slip into a half comatose state.

Aurora nodded to him, mouthing that she'd stay awake and keep an eye on everything, and that was all he needed. He rested his cheek on the top of Dick's head, hearing the older man make a sleepily happy noise, before drifting off to sleep, the scent of his mate and Dick filling his head.


End file.
